


EXO: Origins

by khrysallis, wordyefficacy



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Action, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - MAMA (EXO Music Video), M/M, MAMA Era Powers (EXO), Mindfuck
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-06
Updated: 2019-06-15
Packaged: 2019-10-23 06:53:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 44
Words: 155,771
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17678573
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/khrysallis/pseuds/khrysallis, https://archiveofourown.org/users/wordyefficacy/pseuds/wordyefficacy
Summary: EXO has never been human. This is where it all began.





	1. prologue

**Author's Note:**

> THIS IS A REPOST OF AN OLD FIC. 
> 
> I guess some of you might have recognised the title, and yes, we (Flora and I - she doesn't have an account here yet lol) used to post this on LJ/AFF. But yeah, we decided to repost this here for keepsake, so if you're new to this, enjoy the ride? :D 
> 
>  
> 
> P/S: major grammar editing has been done to this new version.

He swallows thickly as he steps into the open space, eyes darting around to take in his surroundings. The atmosphere is especially unsettling that particular night, the skies much darker than usual; ink-black, even. Not a trace of clouds or stars could be seen.

Taking a step forward, he winces when the dry leaves and dead branches crack and snap beneath his feet. He notices for the first time that the air around him is deadly still, suffocating him slowly as he continues to breathe.

“Kai?” He hears himself call out softly, as though his surroundings would be reduced into dust if he were any louder. Even so, his voice sounds deafening to him in the uncanny silence that encompasses the night. He calls out again when there was no reply, but his efforts yield the same results.

A deep frown creases his forehead when he does a double take at his own words. He didn’t know anyone by the name of ‘Kai’... or did he? He had no idea who he was calling for, but the name rolled off his tongue like the familiar, rich taste of chocolate caramel. Feeling even more confused as the moments tick past, he finds himself trudging deeper into the heart of the woods, the sense of familiarity washing over him. Yet, he’s dead sure that he has never been here before.

He turns around a corner and finds himself looking at a small cottage, door askew as if inviting him to go in, and he looks around cautiously. He has half the mind to turn around and run, but an invisible force draws him closer to the building. Just as he arrived at the doorstep of the cottage, the rustling of leaves coming from the acidic darkness startles him. He stares long and hard at the direction where the sound had originated from, then alternates his glances between the forest and the cottage which beckoned him.

The curiosity got the better of him, and he starts off for the forest again. As he navigates through the forest, he places his hands on the various tree trunks around him, touching them, feeling them. They all vary in the roughness of their bark, the circumference and thickness of their trunk, and he feels the familiarity again; these were trees that he knew, and yet didn’t know; the path he was taking was one that he knew, and yet again, didn’t know. He feels as if he should know each and every single atom of his surroundings, but something that lurked at the back of his mind prevented him from actually _knowing_ what it was he was supposed to know. The sense of déjà vu and strangeness is disconcerting and distracting, and his head spins when he tries to get a hold on everything around him.

That’s when someone makes a coughing noise in the distance, and he wastes no time in making a mad dash in that direction, making full use of his athletic skills. It didn’t matter if his lungs threatened to tear apart at the exertion; he needs some answers to these mysteries. Mysteries that cannot be unravelled by his own abilities alone. He hears a masculine chuckle behind him, and he reels in place, looking, hoping to see someone that he can demand answers from, but there’s no one there. He thinks that he should actually feel kind of creeped out about this, but the unfamiliar smile that tugs at his lips makes him think otherwise.

He soon learns that walking around in the darkness without using the objects around him was a bad idea, because he trips over a particularly thick root and falls face first into the dirt. Except, he realises much later on, that it’s _not_ a root.  


He blanches, finding that it’s a person, lying face down in the dry autumn leaves, unmoving. Gingerly, he prods the person - _he’s not dead right? ...I hope he’s not dead!_ \- with the toe of his sneakers, but doesn’t get a response. His breathing falters when he notices that there’s blood at the nape of the person’s neck, and although it’s not flowing freely, it’s slowly staining the collar of his shirt, crimson spreading wider across the white fabric.

Something at the back of his mind tells him that this person was called Se... _something_ , he can’t recall. Was he supposed to be acquainted with him? The sandy blond hair looks familiar but he can’t recall where he’s seen it before. Images of a poker face that sometimes turn into a know-it-all smirk haunt him, and he remembers swirls of sand being manipulated by deft fingers.

He stumbles backwards when he feels the bile rising up his throat, only to trip and fall again - this time over a redhead with fair, porcelain-like skin. He notes a ring in the form of a water droplet on the person’s ring finger, and a shooting pain wreaks havoc in his head when something stirs in his mind once again. He remembers soft smiles and warm hugs - and getting drenched by a tsunami’s worth of water and spluttering like a drowned cat. A noise in the foliage behind him has him twisting around and he really _really_ regrets turning around because he’s suddenly face-to-face with a _jet-black dragon_ _that is glaring at him with black smoke coming out of its nostrils and AM I GOING TO GET EATEN OHMYGOD._

He picks himself up and practically hauls himself away from the scene, throwing his head back every other alternate second to see whether the dragon was chasing after him - he wishes he didn’t.

Because where the dragon once was, there is now a _phoenix_ in its place and it is _following him_. He throws all the curses he knows of, at whoever the fuck is playing this sick joke on him, questioning what the hell had he done to deserve such a fate. He can feel the fine hairs on his skin standing when the phoenix gives a screech that sounds disturbingly like a cackle, and he shudders briefly as he ran. Movement at the corner of his sight made him change his direction again, and he runs headfirst into the foliage, trying to follow whoever that was. He didn’t care, as long as he got as far away from the phoenix as he could.

His footsteps slows in tandem with the other unidentified person who led him away from the phoenix, breathing both laboured and noisy in the otherwise silent woods. He can see glimpses of them between the shrubbery; swatches of bronze skin and sharp angles. It’s like he’s hypnotised into following their footsteps. It isn’t until a couple of moments later does he manage to catch a glimpse of the other person, and he finds himself stunned.

Tanned bronze skin, ebony hair, and equally dark, alluring eyes greeted his senses, and he reaches out for the person. “K... Kai...?” he calls out uncertainly, yet his mind remains firm with his own answer: This _is_ Kai.

Kai stood there watching him, lips curled up into a small smile that he remembers oh-so-well. The slight slouch to his shoulders and the way he stands with his hands in his pockets echoes with the images that linger in his mind, and he moves towards the other boy with outstretched hands.

“Kai,” he whispers again, but suddenly the ground has dropped out from under his feet and he is falling, falling into the abyss. His gaze, however, is arrested by the dark eyes that do not waver from him even as he falls.

And then he finds himself suddenly jolted awake.


	2. {1} the end is the beginning is the end

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The end of EXO planet is near.

Kai stirs in his sleep, feeling every bit uncomfortable and unsettled by something running around busily at the back of his mind. There is a nagging sensation that something just wasn’t right, but he can’t pinpoint _what_ exactly was making him feel that way. The feeling intensifies as he tries to block those thoughts out, and he kicks off his blanket, too restless to attempt sleeping anymore.

Swinging his legs over the side of the bed, he pads across the floor with his bare feet, and flicks on the light switch to the bathroom, scrubbing the sleep from his eyes tiredly. He frowns a little when some _one_ knocks at the back door of his consciousness, trying to infiltrate his thoughts, and he growls at said person.

“Luhan, give me some privacy, will you?” He growls, but Luhan’s mind is bright and chipper against Kai’s and he mentally shoves at Luhan’s mind grumpily.

“Aww, why’d you do that for?” He can practically hear Luhan’s pout in his mind, to the point of being able to imagine Luhan’s face right in front of him.

“Get your own consciousness or go disturb somebody else’s,” Kai huffs, not in the mood to entertain his fellow guardian. If there’s anything he hated, it’s being unable to get a good night’s sleep. At the moment, he’s sleepless and cranky, and Luhan isn’t helping things at all.

“I would, except I have an urgent matter to discuss with you,” Luhan’s voice rings in his head again, this time grave. Kai immediately perks up in attention.

“Did you See something? Does it have anything to do with how we can save the planet?” Kai asks hopefully.

In the past few weeks, it seemed as though the planet had been slowly dying; first it was the rivers drying up, then the animals going strangely silent, and then there had been random cracks in the ground - which had nothing to do with Kyungsoo apparently, the Earth guardian insisting that he hadn’t been stomping around needlessly. The plants were becoming withered and shrivelled, and it worried all of the twelve guardians that even the Tree of Life seemed to be showing signs of deteriorating.

“No, it’s quite the contrary,” comes the statement, Luhan’s voice strangely flat and emotionless. The answer is brief, yet it weighed down heavily upon Kai’s heart. The panic rises in his throat.

“What do you mean by that? There must be some way-”

“Kai, you don’t understand.” Luhan interrupts Kai, something which is very unlike him. He squeezes his eyes shut, dreading the words that he had to tell Kai - nothing he says would be comforting this time around.

“The planet has reached the end of its life cycle. I have no idea how the process was accelerated, but there’s nothing else we can do to reverse it,” Luhan states evenly again, and swallows thickly at the next thing he was about to admit to his friend. “Something has been interfering with my Sight lately. Even if there _was_ an alternative, I can’t See it.”

Kai’s eyes goes wide in shock. “How long has this been going on? You should have said something so I could’ve gone looking for the cause!” If Luhan’s Sight was being blocked, then they were in pretty deep shit; with the planet as it is now, they were relying heavily on his visions to help them make their decisions.

Luhan grunts at him in his mind. “I didn’t want to worry you guys. Besides, I thought it was getting affected because of the stress I’ve been under lately, but...”

“But-?”

“I think it’s related to why we haven’t been able to contact Chanyeol or Kris.” Luhan’s voice is heavy with the weight of his statement in Kai’s mind.

“You mean someone is deliberately cutting off our line of communication?” Kai splutters, not really able to bring himself to believe that something like this could happen.

The twelve guardians were born with an extremely strong bond after all, to the extent that they could easily guess what the others were up to without the exchange of words. That was, until EXO Planet began to deteriorate, and their connection to Kris and Chanyeol slowly waned as well.

Kai, who could normally pinpoint the location of all the guardians quite accurately and then teleport to them, had been unable to find either Kris or Chanyeol at their usual haunts for the past week. When he had discovered that the others hadn’t heard from them and that even Luhan - whose mind could reach the furthest amongst all of them - was unable to locate them, it became even more worrying.

And now _this_ was happening.

Kai pinches the bridge of his nose, suddenly feeling extremely exhausted. “We need to discuss about this with the others, and decide on our next course of action the first thing in the morning,” he says, as he trudged back to his bed.

“There’s no time. I just Saw something ominous happening to the Tree of Life, but I can’t ascertain when or what will occur. We _need_ to head there at once.” Luhan’s frowning again, evidently frustrated with himself.

Kai let himself fall onto his bed, wincing slightly as his head hit the wall. “Why did I even bother waking up this morning, ugh. So much for a good night’s rest.” Reluctantly, he got back up, grabbing his jacket and pulling it on as he jammed his feet into his boots.

“Let the others know that I’ll be dropping by to grab them, will you?” He felt, rather than heard Luhan nod, and then Kai steps into the darkness, black wisps of smoke surrounding his body as he traversed the distance to the guardian closest to him, Tao. The guardian of time control all but jumped out of his bed in surprise, but Kai merely muttered a quick “Luhan’ll explain later” before grabbing Tao by the scruff of his shirt and dragging him along with him.

“Kai-what!-” Tao’s sentence was cut off as they appeared in front of Jongdae who actually looked alert and was dressed to go. The thunder guardian wordlessly wrapped his fingers around Kai’s wrist and the trio were gone from Jongdae’s room in no time.

Thankfully, it seemed as though Luhan’s words got to most of them right on time, as they were all ready by the time Kai teleported to their respective locations. But much to his dismay, Chanyeol and Kris were, as usual, unreachable. Kai gave up on the notion of tracking them down since his previous efforts proved futile, so he picked Sehun up last and reappeared in front of the Tree of Life, where the others were already waiting.

“What’s going on?” The guardian of ice got up from his perch on the old Tree, dusting off his hands on his robes. The others made a circle around Kai and Luhan, awaiting their explanation for the late night meeting.

“We’re in deep shit,” Kai says as if it were the most natural thing in the world. He scowls at Luhan when the latter nudged him, _hard_ , in his ribs. “But it’s _true_!”

Luhan rolls his eyes at his fellow guardian before taking over the narrative. “And you tell me _I’m_ melodramatic. Riiiiiiiiiight.”

“Um, guys, hate to break up your love war here, but do you think you could get on with it?” Suho mumbles, rubbing his bloodshot eyes sleepily. “I don’t know about you, but I’d like to go back to sleep you know.” Kyungsoo and Tao nodded in agreement, while Baekhyun stares at them through slit-like eyes, as if he’s still half asleep.

“To put it simply, you guys know how the planet has been deteriorating lately, right? Well, bad news is, there’s no way to reverse this. Worse still, the entire process seems to be accelerating even as we speak,” Luhan tells them grimly.

“And something’s blocking his Sight too,” Kai supplemented, teleporting to the opposite side away from Luhan before the elder boy’s elbow connected with him again. Kai knows that Luhan was going to hide that part of the story from their friends, but they can’t afford to keep secrets from each other right now. Not anymore. Time is running out, and fast.

The looks of worry and dismay on Chen’s and Lay’s faces made Luhan feel incredibly guilty, his heart aching at the mere thought of the way things are going. He looks down at his feet in the end, unwilling to meet the others’ eyes.

“Sorry for being useless,” he mumbles, eyes on the shifting sand that he toes with the tip of his boot. If only getting his Sight unblocked was as easy as drawing patterns on the sand.

“What are you talking about?” Xiumin frowns. “It can’t be helped if something - whatever that is - is interfering with your powers. Don’t be too hard on yourself.”

Suho lets out a soft grunt. “So what’s our next course of action?”

“That’s what Kai and I gathered you guys here for, except...” Luhan bit on his lip, the uncertainty flickering in his usually clear eyes.

Sehun seems to have picked up on his hesitation, and he cast a look at his surroundings. “Where’s Kris and Chanyeol?”

Kai runs a hand through his hair in frustration. “See, that’s the other reason why we’re in such deep shit. You know how we haven’t been able to get in touch with either of them? Luhan and I think that there’s something else that’s blocking our connection to them, just like what’s blocking his Sight. I’ve looked everywhere, I can’t feel their presence _at all_!”

The sound of boots crunching down on uneven ground made all of them look up, alert.

“You could’ve done it if you tried hard enough, y’know.” A new, familiar voice joins them just then, causing the ten guardians already gathered to reel around in the direction of the Tree of Life. Much to their surprise and relief, Kris and Chanyeol walked out of the shadows with a smirk on their faces.

Tao heaves a sigh of relief, and makes a move towards them, “Guys, where have you _been?-_ ” He’s cut off by Lay’s outstretched arm that prevents him from moving any closer to them. Tao was initially confused by the gesture, and then he noticed the singed ground a mere centimetre away from the tip of his boots. The guardian of healing’s voice is quiet, but his next words rang out loud and clear in the silence.

“There’s something wrong. It’s not _them_.” Tao scowls at his fellow guardians when he realises what Lay is talking about, disconcerted and irritated.

“What do you mean it’s not us, Lay?” Chanyeol laughs in amusement, flames flickering at his fingertips. “Don’t you recognise your own friends?” The note of derision that Kai heard in the normally cheerful and boisterous fire guardian had him edging back slowly. His eyes met Luhan’s, and he knows that their expressions mirrored each other’s.

_There’s something wrong with Chanyeol and Kris_.

“Where have you been?” Kai asks, eyeing them cautiously. He takes a step forward in order to shield Luhan, fully prepared to grab him and teleport elsewhere the moment Kris or Chanyeol made a move.

It was Kris who chuckled this time. “We’ve been here all along. Did you guys really put in the effort to search for us?” He asks mockingly.

“You know full well what I’m trying to say, Kris,” the guardian of teleportation said darkly. Meanwhile, Luhan nudges at him with his mind, and Kai tries his level best to keep a straight face.

_“I’m sure that the both of them can hear our thoughts when all the lines of communication are open. They’ve put up a blockade on their side. I can’t access their minds.”_

_“Keep trying.”_ Kai grunts back in his head. _“We need to-”_

“Don’t you know it’s rude to pry into another person’s thoughts when you’re not allowed to, Luhan?” Chanyeol suddenly speaks up, causing both Kai and Luhan to go wide-eyed. The fire guardian’s eyes are fixated on the flames that leaped and danced between his fingers as he continues in a nonchalant manner.

“ _So_ _rude_ in fact, that I can’t let it slide.” His lips curves into a dark smirk, eyes slashing to Kai and Luhan as a long lick of flames rush through the air towards them without warning. Kai’s senses kicks into overdrive, as he wraps his arms around Luhan and teleports the both of them to safety just in the nick of time. Suho reacts at once as well, sending a canon of water to negate Chanyeol’s powers, the collision of their powers turning into steam around them.

“Are you out of your mind?!” Kyungsoo growls. His hands are balled into fists by his side, trembling in fury along with the rest of his body, cracks starting to form in the ground in response to his anger. “Shouldn’t you be used to having Luhan entering your consciousness by now?”

Chanyeol merely smiles in response. The smile can’t be categorised anywhere near ‘nice’. “We need to have a change of rules. Invading someone’s mind unannounced is...unacceptable.”

“Why now? Why at all?” Chen spits. As a result of the earlier events, sparks of electricity now crackled at his fingertips as well, fully prepared to turn on the offense at any given moment. “You know we’d be headless chickens without Luhan’s Sight. It’s been this way since we were born and you didn’t have an issue with it then. Why are you overreacting to it _now_ , in this way?!”

“Things change with time, _Jongdae_ ,” Chanyeol rolls his eyes. “We’re sick of being ordered around, and someone made us realise that we don’t have to stay oppressed any longer.”

“Tell me the truth,” Luhan rejoins the conversation, pulling everyone’s attention towards him. He gently pushed Kai away from him, and firmly nodded at the shadow walker when he tries to protest against Luhan’s actions. Luhan then turns his gaze on the pair who drifted away from the group again. “Did you have a hand in EXO Planet’s deterioration?”

“Well,” Kris drawls as he runs a hand over the bark of the Tree of Life. The other guardians tensed up, with the exception of Chanyeol, who ignored them and continued to juggle flames between his hands as the tallest guardian spoke. “I wouldn’t call it deterioration...rather, remodelling, I suppose? It doesn’t sound as distasteful.” He clicks his tongue in disapproval as ice blocked his fingers from crushing into the Tree’s essence, glancing at Xiumin and sighing in mock-exasperation before he removes his hand from the Tree.

“You know what? There’s too much talking going on, and frankly, I’m not in a particularly talkative mood today,” Kris says, sharing a look with Chanyeol. “Shall we get the party started?”

The fire guardian shrugs, rolling his shoulders and cracking his neck. “We might as well.” An unholy darkness that made Kai shiver is reflected in his eyes, before he stretches his arms out, and in the next second, Chanyeol was gone, a flaming phoenix burning crimson hovering in the sky above them taking his place.

“What. The. Fuck.” Baekhyun breathes out. Lay nodded faintly in reply.

The other guardians stared wide-eyed at the sight; none of them knew that Chanyeol was capable of such a transformation. Kris, on the other hand, glanced up at the phoenix with his eyebrows raised.

“Wow, pushing your limits right off the bat?” he snorts. “Show-off.” Kris dodges the fireball headed in his direction with ease, rolling his eyes at the phoenix in the air. “I know you’re the fire guardian, but seriously, why don’t you learn to chill a bit?”

“Are you going to play or not?” Chanyeol shoots back impatiently, throwing several more fireballs at Kris. Sighing once again, Kris coolly levitates himself into the air and aims a kick at Chanyeol’s head, though the fire guardian blocks it with a wall of fire.

“As you wish,” he states simply, and much to the horror of the rest, a dragon with ink-black scales spread its wings from Kris’ previous position. The dragon lazily flaps its wings, rising up into the air to join the phoenix. The pair cast an ominous shadow over the other guardians, blocking out most of the light source from the moon. They hovered there for a while, eyes looking down upon the other guardians with contempt, and then the dragon opens its mouth, leaving a black bolt of flame to race towards the ten guardians on the groun below them.

Xiumin and Suho step up immediately, forming a thick wall of ice using a combination of their powers. They learned soon enough that it isn’t enough to hold Chanyeol and Kris back, as they watched the ice wall melt under the heat rapidly. Seeing that they had no choice but to retaliate, the guardians assumed their battle stances and called upon their powers.

Lightning flickered along Chen’s skin, sparks of electricity at the tips of his fingers, the tattoo on his collarbone coming to life in response, as he says grimly, “I hate to do this, but we have to stand against them and fight.”

Sehun’s fingers twitched and small gusts of wind blew the sand upwards arounds them, rapidly forming the eye of a hurricane where they would be safe in the middle, trying to keep the two airborne guardians out.

"But they're our friends, we can't possibly hurt them. _I_ can’t go up against Kris," Tao cries out, frowning deeply as he maintains his stance.

Kai rolls his eyes at Tao and snorts in disbelief. "Unless you want to be burned into a crisp, then we have no other choice."

Sehun slaps a hand to his face, rubbing it tiredly, "You're kidding me right? We have to fight against a fucking dragon and phoenix and _survive_ in the process? Kill me already."

Kyungsoo's face was priceless as he gaped at the clash of water and fire above them, eyes wide and mouth hanging open. Baekhyun sums everything up wonderfully with a short, "We're in deep shit."

“I’ll have to get Luhan to safety first. Do you think you guys can hold the fort for a couple of moments?” Kai asks, glancing to his left when someone grabs his arm. It was Luhan.

“I’m not leaving.”

“Are you crazy?! What do you plan on accomplishing by being here?” Lay snaps at him. When it comes down to an actual combat, Luhan’s literally a sitting duck on the battlefield. His powers aren’t of much use when he has to go on the offense.

“Not trying to be a wet blanket, but do you think I’ll be able to live it down if I were the only person to walk out of this alive?” Luhan protests. “Also, you’re as much of an easy target as I am.”

Before the Healer can even retort to that statement, Suho diverted his attention from the battle at hand for a split second and cuffed the both of them at the back of their heads. “There’s no time for arguments, guys! If no one wants to leave, then you’ll have to make sure you don’t get in the way!”

“I’ll stand back with Luhan and Lay,” Kyungsoo offers, apparently having caught on to their conversation. “I can’t launch shit at those huge ass things anyway.” The two guardians in question dipped their heads in thanks to the earth guardian.

“Let’s get this party started,” Kai smirks, a little too excited as he fades into the shadows.

Kyungsoo and Luhan stepped closer to Lay, and the Healer spread his power over the three of them, masking their auras, making it seem as though they’ve left the battlefield even though they were right there. He’s not sure how long it would take before Chanyeol or Kris - or gods forbid, _both_ of them - noticed the discrepancy between their missing auras, but the least he could do was _try_. Kyungsoo widened his stance, feet planted solidly into the ground, arms ready to manipulate the earth into a wall at a split second’s notice if they happen to get attacked.

The others also began launching their attacks, with Kai up front distracting both the dragon and the phoenix to allow those who required a close range to inflict damage on them. Kris and Chanyeol soon learned that sticking together was a bad idea; they exchanged a silent agreement with the other, then moved to flank the other guardians on each side, forcing them to the middle of the circle.

“Trapped, aren’t we?” Chanyeol cackles, though he flew narrowly out of range when an earth spike suddenly shot up at him from beneath. He narrowed his eyes at the seemingly empty land below him. _Bad move, Kyungsoo, bad move_. If Kyungsoo is hidden, then it would mean that Lay was with him...and if Lay had to shield them - and Kai being crazy enough to fight on the front lines without worrying about Luhan - then Luhan was right there with them.

_Bingo._ Chanyeol smirks to himself.

Behind the barrier, Luhan glares at Kyungsoo, and if looks could kill, then Kyungsoo would have been six feet under. The earth guardian winced guiltily.

“You couldn’t have held back for a short moment, could you?” he hissed. Lay’s brows were knitted together in irritation at Kyungsoo’s mistake, but he didn’t dare allow his concentration to wane, in his efforts to maintain the cloaking around them. Sweat dripped down his face at the effort of maintaining the barrier around them. “Move back,” he mutters quietly out of the corner of his mouth, and the three of them backed away slowly from Chanyeol.

“Kyungsoo, Kyungsoo. Come out, come out, wherever you are~” Chanyeol chimes, enjoying Kai’s panicked expression as the shadow walker phased into plain view. “I’ll discover your locations sooner or later, so you better show yourselves before someone gets hurt.” Chanyeol then continued, taking the opportunity to swing one of his flaming wings at Kai who was caught off-guard. Icicles stabbed up from the ground around Kai, just in time to block off the onslaught of flames from Chanyeol before evaporating into steam; Kai flashed a quick smile at Xiumin before he teleported away, and the other guardian turned his attention back to fighting off Kris.

“Tsk, such annoying pests,” Kris spits, impatient to finish them off. That’s when an invisible force clamped down on him, and he finds himself sailing through the air into another tree in the distance, crashing painfully into it. His eyes narrowed into slits as he lifted himself back into the air, knowing that there is only one person capable of doing that - Luhan. It was about time to get serious instead of just playing around. Kris swept his wings to their full wingspan, propelling himself forward to rejoin the battlefield, dodging Suho’s airborne water globes and Xiumin’s spikes of ice. He ducks under Sehun’s wind blades that tried to throw off his flight path, narrowly missing being caught in Tao’s time freeze. He hissed in pain as one of Baekhyun’s light strobes grazed his wing, but it does nothing to slow him down.

Kai suddenly teleported in his flight path, and the collision was imminent - “Holy _fuck_!” the shadow walker grabbed onto the shadows and _pulled_ just as Kris opened his jaws to exhale the black flames that would engulf him - and barely manages to disappear in a cloud of smoke just before the flames engulfed a large portion of his body. His foot, however, wasn’t so lucky, and he cries out in pain, crumpling to the ground when he reappears again.

The black flames continues to sweep towards the other guardians on land; Suho and Xiumin gritted their teeth, hoping to keep up a wall that would at least stop the flames while Tao readied himself to freeze the flames so that they could make an escape. But through their preoccupation with Kris, they completely forgot about Chanyeol’s existence. Luhan was a split second too late to warn those who were nearest to the phoenix, and Chanyeol sent both Sehun and Xiumin sprawling in an instant, knocking them unconscious.

Chen retaliated with a snarl and a thunderbolt, but it was quickly dodged by the phoenix, and a sweep of Chanyeol’s wing sent the thunder guardian flying into a nearby boulder. Kyungsoo barely managed to soften the particles into something less damaging, and then there was only Baekhyun, Suho, and Tao left standing. The black flames were still razing the land and coming towards them, and from the way the trio were breathing heavily, they won’t be able to withstand another attack if the phoenix joined in.

From behind the barrier, Kyungsoo swallowed convulsively. There’s no way the others would survive if he doesn’t step up this time. His previous mistake had cost them too much. The Seer is beside him, trembling with worry for Kai, and Lay was turning even paler from the exertion. He _needs_ to do something, and fast.

“Drop the barrier,” he whispers to Lay. “It’s out of your cloaking range and you’re wasting too much energy, when they already know where we are anyway. Save it to heal Kai.” The Healer nods in silence, and Luhan squeezed his elbow in thanks.

A dome of hard packed earth shot up around Baekhyun, Suho and Tao just then, and Chanyeol chuckles in triumph as Luhan, Lay and Kyungsoo suddenly came into view. The dome was erected just in time and the trio within breathed heavily, trying to get a bit of rest as the heat of the black fire seeped in, but the dome stood solidly as the flames razed past them slowly. Kyungsoo collapsed where he stood, strength all but gone at this point. Chanyeol eyes him idly, sure that he wouldn’t be able to cause any more trouble with his strength depleted to this state.

Luhan, forgetting all sense of self-preservation, quickly ran to Kai’s side. He’s still hissing at the burnt skin of his foot; the pain must be excruciating, especially when the flames aren’t even made from the normal fire they would usually use. Lay puts his hands on the shadow walker’s foot immediately, starting the healing process as Kai struggles not to scream out in pain. Kris’ black fire is a lot more painful than Chanyeol’s flames, to the point where it seemed to continue eating into one’s skin.

“We’re offering you one final proposition. Join us, and you’ll be spared,” Chanyeol speaks up, momentarily returning to his original body. He figures that since both him and Kris were more than enough to wipe out half of the guardians, the remaining ones wouldn’t cause too much damage to them. Kris was still hovering above them in his dragon form.

Baekhyun barks out a bitter laugh and takes a step forward, earning surprised but muffled protests from his worn-out friends. He blocks everyone out of his mind, including Luhan. Chanyeol smiles at his good friend’s actions, thinking that the guardian of light is indeed about to defect to their side.

“You’ve made a good choice, Baekhyun. I knew I could always count on you,” he purrs in content, spreading his arms wide open to welcome Baekhyun into their fold. Baekhyun stopped short of Chanyeol’s reach, and glanced at him with an unfathomable expression on his face.

“Hey Chanyeol, we’ve been friends for a long while now, but at this point of time, I only have one thing to say: _fuck off and die_.” Baekhyun starts off evenly, only to launch himself at Chanyeol with his powers completely activated as he shouts the last four words. Blinding light burst forth from Baekhyun’s body and Chanyeol snarls in reply, erecting a wall of fire in an effort to protect himself from the light guardian’s light beams. However, the guardian of light managed to pass through the wall relatively unhurt, thanks to the protective barrier formed around him by his powers, and managed to burn Chanyeol’s arm in return.

Baekhyun moved closer, trying to incapacitate both Chanyeol and Kris with two whips made out of pure light. Chanyeol, who couldn’t react in time, raised his arms to block most of the damage, only to hiss in agony when the whip tears a strip of his flesh out. Kris quickly moves out of range from the light whip, only to be hit square in the chest by a blast of water from Suho. The dragon roars in retaliation, coughing a deadly stream of fire at them - but it’s frozen in place by Tao’s powers, both dragon and flames suspended in mid-air.

Seeing that the tide was turned against them, Chanyeol glares at the group with intense hatred, his arms spread wide. “You _will_ regret this,” he roars, and shape-shifted into a flaming phoenix once again, this time larger and more menacing than before. As if proving his point, he swats at Baekhyun with one of his wings, flinging the guardian of light several metres across the dried-up ground. The victorious screech that Chanyeol emitted made all of them wince, and they gulped when Kris roared as well. Tao evidently could not hold on much longer, his outstretched arms shaking from the effort. He grits his teeth while trying to hold back Kris and the ball of black flames, which inched closer and closer towards them despite the hold Tao has on him.

“Guys, do something!” Tao shouts over the noise of the phoenix’s constant screeching, beads of sweat rolling down the sides of his face, strain evident in the way his veins stood out on his neck. Still at Kai’s side, Luhan raised his arm, drawing the two airborne guardians together, and then throws his hand forward forcefully, flinging them as far as he could with his telekinetic powers.

Suho and Tao sink to their knees once the other two guardians are out of range, close to collapsing on the ground, exhausted from the ongoing battle. Lay patted Kai’s healed foot, and the latter gives the Healer a wan smile of thanks. Lay then got up to move towards Xiumin and Sehun to check on them. Unfortunately, he didn’t account for the wave of dizziness that overcomes him when he stood up, and he stumbled slightly. Kai immediately teleported to Lay’s side in order to support him, not wanting to risk placing extra weight on his bad foot.

Luhan stared hard in the direction where he had flung Kris and Chanyeol; already he could feel the brush of raw anger and killing intent from them – along with the underlying darker _something_ that had taken hold of both their minds and was influencing their actions. If their anger was any indication, the both of them would be back and _soon_ , and things would definitely all end horribly for them. With all of them close to empty on their power levels and half of them knocked out cold, there’s no way they would be able to defend themselves properly, let alone mount a counterattack against a royally pissed phoenix and dragon.

A sudden cracking sound made Luhan spin around in his place, and his mind went blank in horror – there’s a large crack running right down the middle of the Tree of Life, widening at an alarming speed. _So this is how it ends then_ , the Seer thought sadly, slightly bitter, _this is the end of EXO Planet_.

The shadow walker catches on to Luhan’s grim thoughts, and he grips Luhan by his shoulders, shaking him hard. “Isn’t there another way to stop this?!” Kai yells, though his eyes widened when he feels Luhan trembling under his hold, his face pale. It’s a sure sign that Luhan is almost at his limits; that stunt with Kris and Chanyeol must have drained his powers too.

“We’ve failed in our destiny to protect the Tree of Life,” Luhan says, voice barely above a whisper. The cracks in the Tree continues to widen, the leaves starting to shrivel rapidly, branches entering the stage of withering, making the Tree look increasingly dead.

“It’s not too late,” Kai insists. “The Tree isn’t completely dead yet. We can still save it. Bring a part of it with us somewhere, _anywhere_ , even if it’s not on this planet!”

The Healer at his side looks up with tired eyes, nodding swiftly before adding his two cents. “As long as we can regrow some part of the Tree, it’ll never really be dead. Hurry, let’s take the roots or something before it really dies, and _then_ there will really be no way of saving it left.”

Kyungsoo drags himself upright at the sound of the conversation, quickly digging through the earth with his powers to expose the Tree’s roots. Suho, on the other hand, cut up two particularly large pieces of root with blades of water, and Yixing passed them to Tao, who froze the roots with his power; as long as a part of his power surrounded the roots, the life in them would be suspended, and the time guardian would lift his power when they find a new place to plant the roots.

He handed one piece each to Kai and Luhan for safekeeping, entrusting the last hope of protecting the Tree of Life to them. They were, after all, the ones who could sense the soul of the Tree. “It’s in your hands now.” The guardian of time intoned softly. The brief moment of peace was shattered when Chanyeol and Kris reminded them of their presence, already dangerously close to them when they finally realised it. The earth is cracking beneath their feet by then, and Kyungsoo tries his level best to hold the ground together so they wouldn’t all fall straight down some crevasse.

“We need to find another planet! This place isn’t safe anymore!” Kyungsoo exclaims, face red from his efforts.

“But how are we going to do that?” Lay frowns, exchanging a glance with the shadow walker who understood his concerns at once. He knows that if Kai were to transport them away, Kai had to visualise their destination first. Other planets were mere folklore to them, since they had never - could not have - stepped away from their positions surrounding the Tree of Life. At this rate, it’s near-impossible for any one of them to conjure such an image out of thin air.

“We’ll have to take the risk,” Kai mutters, mirroring Lay’s expressions. “Do you guys trust me enough?”

Luhan smiles slightly, laying a hand on the shadow walker’s arm. “Do you have to ask?”

Kai smiles back, comforted that at least that had gotten his fellow guardian out of the dark thoughts he had been sinking into. “But I have a request. We have to bring Chanyeol and Kris along with us.”

“Are you out of your mind?!” Kai, Baekhyun, and Suho exclaimed at the same time, and Kai continued lambasting the Seer. “We almost got ourselves killed because of them, and you want me to bring them along? What are you thinking about?! No way.”

“Kai, I know that they’re acting completely out of character now, but they are still guardians! Considering that there’s something or someone influencing their actions now, maybe we can get rid of that influence and wake them up, so to speak if we bring them along with us.” Luhan tries to reason, but Kai continues to fume, scowling at the Seer. “We have no idea where we’ll end up at, and it’s always been twelve guardians; it’s always been the twelve of us.” The Seer pleads with Kai again.

Lay speaks up just then. “We don’t know if it’ll affect the growth of the Tree wherever it is we end up, if we have any less than twelve guardians. There are too many things that we don’t know about right now, so I agree with Luhan on this. We should bring them along with us. It’s a gamble that we have to take.”

“Fine, but can someone do something about the incoming ball of fire before we get toasted in like... five seconds?” Kai points upwards lazily, launching Suho and Kyungsoo into a panic with his words. Five seconds was the exact amount of time they required to unleash their powers, and Kai’s split-second warning was cutting it _too_ close.

“And you couldn’t have told us that earlier, why?!” Kyungsoo growls at him as he focused on keeping the earth wall in place, to which Kai replied with a flustered “I just noticed”. Kyungsoo soon finds out that he had overestimated his energy reserves when his knees buckles under the combined oppression from Kris and Chanyeol and collapsed. Suho quickly shoots a jet of water to block the flames from licking at Kyungsoo’s unconscious body, and takes over the responsibility of shielding the others as they did their thing.

“Make it quick, I can’t hold on for long,” he tells to them urgently. Luhan acknowledges with a firm nod, and begins levitating the other unconscious guardians towards their current location as fast as he can. Kai needed to have everyone close by so that his powers could work properly; he didn’t want to risk leaving half of someone’s body behind on EXO Planet, because that would be disastrous, to say the least. Lay, on the other hand, kept a steady arm on Suho’s shoulder, infusing his unused energy to support the water guardian. Tao was on standby, fully prepared to freeze time again when it was needed.

Behind the trio, Luhan and Kai knelt on the ground, trying to calm their nerves so that they could concentrate on the important task at hand.

“What if I screw up?” Kai bites his lip, sweating bullets because of the heat bearing down on them. Teleporting two other guardians with him wasn’t a problem, but transporting all twelve of them at the same time was an entirely different matter. How far would he be able to go before his energy would run out? He had no answer for that. To top that off, he was bringing them all to an unknown location, which increased the risk of failure tenfold – and that’s probably a gross underestimation. He didn’t think he’s ever felt as lost as he did now.

“Kai, Kai. Look at me.” The shadow walker turns to the Seer, his troubled eyes meeting Luhan’s. “You can do this because we’re here together. _All of us_ , okay? Chanyeol and Kris may not be in their right minds at the moment, and half of us may be unconscious, but we have faith in you; we believe in you.” Luhan’s voice is determined. “So don’t you dare tell me that you’ll screw up because you _won’t._ ”

“I-” Kai began, only to find himself glancing to his right in surprise when someone collapsed onto the ground. Lay.

“Save the lovey-dovey moments for later please!” Suho cries out desperately as he tries to hold off Kris and Chanyeol by himself. Tao could only do so much to freeze their movements, when he has to conserve his energy for what’s coming next.

Luhan squeezes Kai’s arm again for comfort before his eyes went unfocused, and the latter could briefly sense that Luhan was trying to spread his Sight out past EXO Planet, looking for somewhere that would be suitable for them to recuperate and live. Suho was panting heavily, down on one knee and gritting his teeth, the distance between Kris and Chanyeol’s flames closing in upon them as his strength waned. If they didn’t hurry up soon, he was going to black out like Kyungsoo and Lay; already he could feel the exhaustion beginning to overcome him.

“Guys...” he warned. “Hurry!”

“One moment! I’m still trying to find a place!” Luhan shouts back, feeling panicky from the pressure. Just then, his Sight focused on an image of a lush green land, and he immediately transmitted what he Saw to Kai. “GO!”

At the same time, the Seer calls out to Suho’s and Tao’s minds. “Freeze them and then I’ll bring them over! The planet is really going to reach its limits soon!”

Suho yells out in defiance, putting all his power into this last, desperate move and engulfed both the dragon and phoenix in a large globe of water before passing out on the ground. Tao pushed himself to his limits and immediately froze them, and Luhan moved them over to him with his powers.

It’s then that Kai finds himself standing in the middle of the circle of unconscious guardians, eyes closed in concentration and arms outstretched on either side of him. Each of the guardians had some form of contact with Kai, be it just their clothes or shoes, and Kai reached up into the globe to grab hold of the guardians trapped within. He couldn’t tell whether it was Kris or Chanyeol who gurgled in the water, but he didn’t care. They couldn’t harm him now, not like this. He felt Luhan’s fingers grab onto his hand like a lifeline, and Tao had a solid grip on his shoulders. The now-unconscious Suho was supported by Tao.

Mustering every bit of his strength, Kai kept his mind on the image fed to him by Luhan, and enveloped his fellow guardians with his powers, making sure that he has covered every single inch of them. He grunts when he loses his balance slightly as a result of the ground beneath him giving way, but forced himself to stay in focus. He subconsciously tightened his grip on Luhan when he felt the other guardian slipping away from him, and with a final burst of energy from the Seer as support, the group phased into a ball of smoke.

Not a second later, the ground they had all been standing upon cracked wide open into an abyss, and the dried, withered remains of the Tree of Life disappeared into it. The whole planet was collapsing into itself, as if it was being swallowed up from the inside out. Luhan took a brief moment pay his last respects to the planet that had birthed them before he refocused on the rest of the guardians once again. There is no turning back.

In another galaxy, a large unidentified object comes into existence, wispy black smoke surrounding it before it seemed to wobble, and split into twelve different flaming sections, rushing towards a planet called Earth.


	3. {2} latent fire

**_Earth, 2008_ **

He has never felt _this_ livid before in his entire life.

His body is trembling in a failing attempt to keep his anger in check as he glares at the group of larger, older boys in front of him, sneering looks on their faces. Chanyeol isn’t someone who got angry easily, but what these morons had just said really made his blood boil.

“I dare you to say that again,” he seethes, voice low and dangerous, barely veiling the fury that was leashed in every muscle. A few of them shifts uneasily, but still stood their ground nonetheless. Chanyeol was tall, but more gangly thin than lanky muscle, still in that awkward stage of puberty of angular limbs that felt as though they didn’t really fit his body, and so the bullies capitalised on this.

The most menacing one of the lot steps up, expression smug as he faced Chanyeol. “Whatcha gonna do about that, eh boy?” he sneers, shoving Chanyeol roughly by the shoulders. Chanyeol staggers backwards slightly, but his head is still upturned in defiance.

There is no fucking way in hell he was going to back down from this, not when-

“Well? Are you just going to keep quiet there? Or are you decidedly mute from now?” The boy, whom Chanyeol assumed to be the leader of the group, mocks again, misunderstanding Chanyeol’s silence for cowardice.

“He’s just as useless as his parents. Can’t even fend for himself.” One of the other boys speaks up, finding courage from the situation. Chanyeol swore to God he would punch his sorry excuse for a face and break his nose and allow him to bleed to the fucking death; if only he wasn’t outnumbered. Getting insulted didn’t rile him up this much, but for them to bring his _parents_ into this - they were either really, _really_ stupid or trying to prove to themselves that they were macho. Regardless, he’s utterly disgusted by their behaviour and increasingly furious.

“Awww, aren’t you a mama’s boy?” One of the others coos mockingly. “Do you still suck her-”

At this, Chanyeol sees red and lunges at him with a growl, throwing a heavy punch in his face. A sickening crack follows - he didn’t know whether it was the boy’s nasal cartilage, or his knuckles, or both, and neither did he care - before he felt some sticky drops of liquid landing on his face.

The boy beneath him had a bewildered look on his face as he furiously wiped at the liquid that was flowing freely out of his nose, freaking out even more when he realises he’s bleeding profusely. “Y-you bastard!” He splutters, frantically applying pressure to his broken nose to stop the flow of blood.

“You went too far when you brought my parents into this.” Chanyeol is only half aware that his body feels like it’s a furnace, like he’s stepped into a fire and in the reflection of their eyes he sees himself, angry and manic. The first idiot yells out from somewhere behind him and throws a punch at Chanyeol’s head, but before it can connect, Chanyeol has spun around, catching the other boy’s wrist in one hand. He jerks and twists the limb painfully, to the point that his victim falls to his knees in agony.

In the midst of his counterattack, however, Chanyeol fails to realise that three other bullies had crept up to him, and when he does, his head is already pressed against the asphalt, a shoe on the other side of his exposed face. The gravel cuts into his cheek and he can feel the blood pooling from the cuts as the shoe grounds his face unforgivingly into the road. He coughs as a sharp kick nails him in the stomach, and he twists his body in an attempt to become a smaller target. All of them are kicking at his arms, his back while they jeer at him and he tries his best to disregard the kicks which are being aimed at his head, trying to catch one of them by the ankle instead to yank them off balance.

He vaguely remembers wishing that they would just die a painful death in a fire, when his fingers start to tingle with heat and he grabs someone’s unsuspecting ankle and the person _screams_ _and screams and screams_ , trying his best to yank his foot away from Chanyeol’s death grip. He finally manages to dislodge his leg, limping slightly as he backs away with wide eyes.

His group of friends notice something amiss, and Chanyeol feels the rain of punches and kicks cease completely as they wondered what the hell had gotten into their comrade. They all let out surprised yelps at the sight of _flames_ eating up at the material of the boy’s jeans, surrounding him in an instant to help put out the fire and leaving the writhing Chanyeol forgotten on the road behind them.

They manage to put the flames out but recoil when Chanyeol grins toothily at them, blood leaking from the side of his lips. The ring leader steps towards him but the others pull him back hastily.

“Fucking freak.” The leader spits and it lands somewhere near Chanyeol’s bleeding fingers and they leave quickly with their limping comrade, glancing back nervously now and then to make sure that Chanyeol hasn’t miraculously got up to follow them.

As the group disappeared from his sight, Chanyeol slowly picks himself up from the ground, shaky and breathless from the pain shooting through his senses. He stares long and hard at his own fingers, flexing and extending them as he wondered what had just happened. The fire... it seemed to have started from nowhere, but no matter how he tries to make sense of the incident, he couldn’t. The build-up of heat seems to have disappeared as his anger ebbed, and as hard as he tries to will flames to come to his fingertips, they don’t.

He winced at the throbbing pain of his cheek, poking around the site of the wound but not touching it directly. He’d better head home and clean up or risk it getting infected, not to mention his uniform was practically totalled, what with all the blood and dirt all over it.

With that, he gingerly drags himself in the opposite direction towards his home, ignoring all the curious glances from the pedestrians as they pass him by.

 

\---

 

**_Earth, 1999_ **

Chanyeol is six when he has his first temper tantrum. Always the good-natured, toothy child who is all smiles and laughter, his parents are mildly surprised when he throws a tantrum over a large lollipop of all things.

It isn’t as though they _didn’t_ want to give him one, but he was having a severe case of dental caries as it is, and the dentist had strongly advised them against giving the young boy sweet stuff. As a result, his mother has been hiding away the candies that are normally in reach of his pudgy hands on the dining table, and the chocolate bars that would usually be found in the fridge compartments that he could ask his noona to reach and grab for him and he has been _deprived_ of sweet things for much too long.

And Chanyeol wasn’t pleased. He practically _lived_ for sweet things. And that huge lollipop in the shop window that he could probably lick for three days and still not be able to finish was so _so_ yummy and so very enticing but his mother was all frowns and stern words. He turns to his father with doe eyes and a massive pout, but his father stood his ground as well. No sweets until the condition of his teeth improves.

That was it! It was too much! He’d gone without candies for two weeks and he _had to have that lollipop RIGHT NOW!_ Chanyeol begins to sniffle, and then to the consternation of his parents begins to _wail_ in the middle of the street and everyone turns to stare. Six year old Chanyeol is unhappy and irate and his skin is _burning up_ with his anger, so much so that when his mother tries to pick him up and hush him, her fingers end up getting burnt instead, and she pulls away slightly with a surprised hiss at her scalded fingers. She looks worriedly from her fingers to her crying son, but pulls him to her and then whispers that they’ll get a lollipop for him okay, so won’t he be a good boy and stop crying?

The excess heat dissipates from him slowly as he hiccups through his tears and clings to his mother, eyes large, “Promise?” and her heart melts at his adorable expression. She keeps her promise, entering the shop and buying the lollipop which he had his eyes on for the longest time ever, and came out with a happily-grinning Chanyeol who began chattering away cheerily.

For good measure, they stopped by at the clinic to get Chanyeol’s temperature checked before they headed home. The doctor assured that he was perfectly normal.

It isn’t until years later that Chanyeol will remember this incident.

 

\---

 

**_Earth, 2008_ **

Chanyeol peeks into his house and surreptitiously heads for his own bedroom, hoping that he won’t chance upon his parents or his elder sister along the way. As he walked past the full-length mirror right at the foot of the stairs, he paused to assess his own condition.

He looks like crap - for the lack of better words to describe himself. He had a hand over his ribs, which were still throbbing painfully and hopefully _not_ fractured, while the other dabbed at the various cuts on his face and also his split lip, wincing when he accidentally applied too much pressure on his wounds. He grabs the first aid kit from the cupboard on his way up for good measure, pulling out the antiseptic ointment and plasters and bandages to fix up his own wounds.

The shirt would have to go; he’d have to find some way to get rid of it without his mother being the wiser - if he just stuffed it into the washing machine like that, he would get a tongue lashing when his mother did the laundry; he doubts that the numerous blood stains and dirt would be able to be removed from his shirt without leaving behind any tell-tale stains. He would also rather not worry his mother or his other family members, though he would have to cook up a reasonable-enough explanation for all the bruises and cuts he had sustained.

Chanyeol groans at the thought as he drags himself into the bathroom, bringing along the first aid kit with him. His muscles ached with every movement, even more so when he set himself on the edge of the bathtub. Deciding that he couldn’t remain seated on the narrow ledge without toppling over and inflicting more injuries on himself, he pulls off his soiled shirt and track bottoms and settles inside the bathtub, then turns on the tap.

The water stings like hell and he winces as it touched the numerous cuts on his legs. He washes the cuts gingerly, and when he’s done, he takes a quick shower, dries himself, and starts daubing antiseptics on himself. If the water stung like hell, the antiseptics practically made him want to throw himself off a cliff. He clenches his teeth hard as he rubs the medicated ointment into his wounds, barely able to stop himself from groaning out in pain.

Chanyeol paused and took in several deep breaths to dissipate the pain, only to regret it when he was reminded of his bruised ribs in a... not-so-decent manner. _At least they’re not fractured,_ he thinks gingerly to himself, and eased on his breathing. His body would be a map of purple bruises come tomorrow morning though, he could tell already, and made a mental note to dress himself in long-sleeved shirts for the remainder of the week.

As he applies the ointment onto the cuts on his stomach, a faded black mark on his right hip peeked out from beneath the waistband of his boxers, and he did a double take at it. That had definitely not been there last night or this morning. The gangly teenager moves closer to the mirror, pulling the waistband down slightly to see it more clearly. He frowns at the sight; it sure as hell did not resemble a bruise nor a cut. In fact it looked a bit like some kind of ….bird? He cranes his head trying to get a better look, but it didn’t look any clearer even though he was developing a crick in his neck instead.

The sound of his mother calling for him from below moments later startles Chanyeol, who accidentally smacks face first into the mirror. Rubbing his sore nose, he yells back a reply to inform her that he was home, then takes a glance at the bird-like mark on his hip again. Except it was no longer there, which confused Chanyeol like _hell_.

He rubs the area hard, but all he gets for his trouble was a reddening patch of skin, and no bird-like mark to be seen. Shaking his head, he decides that he was merely hallucinating and thought nothing more of it, leaving it at the back of his mind.

Unbeknownst to him, the tell-tale black mark that showed just above the waistband of his boxers gradually appears again as he turns to leave the bathroom.


	4. {3} shadow butterflies

**_Earth, 2008_ **

Being a part of this company was all he ever wished for, all he ever wanted, he swears - but right now, he isn’t too sure about that anymore. The never-ending degrading comments, the mental abuse, the stupid pranks...

What exactly did he do wrong to deserve all of this? He’s sure that he had been the social butterfly of the trainees, flitting from one group to the other, establishing good relations with everyone like he was told to. He had never asked to be spoken to by his teachers, or by President Lee Soo Man more than the other trainees. Jongin hated those vengeful glares that bore holes into his back whenever the trainers called him (and only him) over for a word, before ending up with an encouraging pat to the back.

Was it his fault for being able to catch up with their dance lessons much faster than anyone else? If it was, he would’ve pretended to be the most sluggish one of the lot, really. He thought that being able to have the chance to dance for a living was the most wonderful thing ever to happen to him, but no one had ever mentioned how trainees treated each other, especially if you were favoured by the higher-ups. He is beginning to understand why so many of the wide, starry-eyed trainees have slowly become so disillusioned by the whole process of becoming an idol, by the amount of pressure that is placed on them by people who were supposed to be their friends. He can understand why so many of them eventually left, preferring to go back to their studies, or to pursue other interests.

But for Jongin, the need to dance on a stage, to shine, to bask in attention is in his blood, in his very soul, and he’d be damned if he’d let such fucking _morons_ keep him away from his dream. And so he ignores the jeers coming from some of the trainees as he steps up for his monthly proficiency test, head held high and proud. He had long decided that ‘friends’ probably don’t exist in this superficial world that he had stepped into; it was every man for himself, and this phrase has never rang truer until now. He can’t afford to be distracted by people who aren’t worth his time.

Though, he has to say, he feels sorry for the trainee who went before him - Junmyeon, was it? - because the pranksters had to embarrass him by tripping him over when he was about to return to his seat. Apparently, trainees who have joined the company for three years aren’t spared of the bullying either. He watches as the pale boy slowly unclenched his hands from the fists that they’d been in when he fell, a smile that didn’t reach his eyes on his lips as he got up, bowed to their trainers once again and then went back to his seat without a word. Jongin silently applauded the boy in his mind. It was no mean feat to be able to mask one’s expression like that without retaliating. He’s sure that if it had been him, then a grimace or a scowl would have been on his face instead. _He’d probably make a good leader_ , Jongin thinks faintly.

His attention shifts from the trainee called Junmyeon towards their trainers who are seated at the back of the room when the intro music for his routine starts to play. Time to get serious.

 

\---

 

“So you think you’re all that, huh?” A sneering voice catches up with him as he filed out of the room with the other trainees. It’s the very same person who would taunt him and spread horrid rumours amongst the other trainees about him, calling Jongin an arrogant bastard and everything else nasty under the sun.

Jongin rolls his eyes mentally and ignores the other boy as he kept walking. He had promised his parents to stay out of trouble in exchange for him to be a trainee, and he’s determined to hold up that end of the promise. In the company, under the watchful eyes of their teachers, at least. He’s not stupid enough to stir shit up in front of everyone else. Jongin therefore makes his way down the stairs, taps his trainee card on the machine and exits the SME building, heading down the street and to the left, taking his usual shortcut to the closest subway station.

Lost in thought, and half-asleep as he walked, he doesn’t notice the group of three jealous boys had that had followed him quietly, intent on making him pay somehow for the amount of attention that he had received, that they would never have gotten. He stumbles forward, eyes blinking fully open when there’s a rough shove against his back, and he barely manages to stop himself from tripping in time, whirling around to face the bunch of bullies.

“What the actual fuck is your problem Jungmin?” Jongin spits angrily, annoyed.

“ _You’re_ the fucking problem, Kim Jongin. Strutting around like you own the training room, being such a fucking _pet_.” One of the other boys with unruly hair snarls.

Jongin’s eyes narrowed in anger. “It’s not my fault that you can’t dance for shit, Sungyeol. Maybe if you stopped skipping out on class with all your damn cigarette breaks then Minyeong-sonsaengnim would actually give you the time of day instead of shoving you to the back of the class,” he snipes back, incensed. He knows it’s a terrible idea to go mouthing off like that, but he was pretty damn fed up at this point, especially when it comes to others blaming him for their own shortcomings.

"I'm going to give you three seconds to take that back," the boy called Sungyeol warns, looking every bit ready to pummel Jongin to the ground the moment the smaller boy says anything out of line.

Jongin bares his teeth in a feral grin. “Like _hell_ I will.”

Sungyeol practically turns red in anger and charged at Jongin before Jungmin or Jinwoon could hold him back. Being light on his feet, Jongin deftly avoids the attack, and reels around just in time before he crashed into another pedestrian trying to gain access to the subway.

However, Jongin was caught off-guard when Sungyeol suddenly drops to his knees and clutches his head, groaning in pain. He frowns a little, wondering what the hell was up with him. Jongin hadn't even _touched_ him yet. He keeps his distance from the other boy, slightly wary that it was a fake out to get him closer, but also a _little_ bit worried about his reaction. Sungyeol didn’t have enough smarts nor the acting talent to stage such a believable act.

When Jongin shifts forward slightly, Sungyeol gave a little cry and looked as if he would pass out in pain. He freezes in place, puzzled and slightly freaked out because that definitely didn’t sound like it was faked. Jungmin and Jinwoon hovered around their friend, shooting dirty looks at Jongin.

“What the fuck did you _do_ to him?!” Jungmin snarls.

“I didn’t even _touch_ him! How the hell am I supposed to do anything to him? Black magic? I’m only stepping on his shadow, for Christ’s sake,” Jongin retorts but stood his ground, scuffing his shoe into the shadow on the ground hard.

Sungyeol suddenly gave a pained gurgle and then passed out on the ground, breathing faint. Both Jongin and the other two trainees’ eyes went wide at the sight. Jinwoon and Jungmin crouched down to their friend, panicked. Jongin takes a step closer, intending to help out in some way, but then Sungyeol’s breathing became harsher.

“Stay the fuck _away!_ ” Jungmin all but shoved him onto his ass, eyes wide and terrified and angry. Too shocked by everything going on, Jongin remained seated on the pavement in spite of the questioning glances being cast in his direction, still staring at the writhing form of Sungyeol. He’s literally in a daze, trying to wrap his head around what the hell was going on. He stares at the chaos in front of him when something clicks in his mind, like a puzzle piece being fitted into its right place.

_Shadow_ , his mind whispers.

Jongin stares at their shadows on the ground. He wass technically _sitting_ on Sungyeol’s shadow - he glances up quickly at the other two trainees who were trying in vain to get Sungyeol to wake up. Jongin bit his lip, worrying it between his teeth. Although it didn’t quite make sense, he gingerly heaved himself off the ground and moved away. Almost immediately, Sungyeol’s eyes shot open, and he was able to sit up again, taking in air in quick gasps.

This time, it was Jongin’s head that spun. The implications were immense and mind-boggling.

He’s still in the midst of trying to make sense of everything, when Jungmin suddenly shoved him up against the brick wall, slamming him hard into it.

“Bastard, what the hell did you do to him?!” Jungmin demands, practically breathing down Jongin’s neck.

“Fuck, I didn’t do anything at all! I’d be damned if I knew!” Jongin coughs out, trying to regain the air that had been knocked out of him. He tries to struggle out of the grip the older boy had on him, but the sheer strength that Jungmin had on his shoulders couldn’t be shrugged off that easily.

“Still not talking, are you? I’ll just have to teach you a lesson-” Jungmin raised an arm, fully poised to punch Jongin’s face in for doing whatever he did to his friend, only to be held back by Jinwoon. “The fuck are you holding me back for?!”

“Shouldn’t we take Sungyeol to the hospital first? He doesn’t look too good,” Jinwoon frowns, casting a worried glance at their friend who is still trying to regulate his breathing.

“I just need to teach this little shit a lesson for messing with us!” Jungmin shakes off his friend’s arm and his fist rushed towards Jongin’s face. To Jongin it was like watching an oncoming car while standing in the middle of the road, like watching everything happen in slow motion as Jungmin’s fist came towards him. All the while, his mind was throwing obscenities, wishing he was already back home and not in this stupid alley, his fingers twitching slightly as he watches Jungmin’s and Jinwoon’s shadows, where his intersected with theirs.

An idea brews in his mind, and he jerks at the shadows, watching with bated breath to see if anything would happen. And Jungmin’s arm halted mid-air, held back by an invisible force. _Bingo._ Jongin lowers his head to conceal his smirk, leaving Jungmin and Jinwoon to stare at the former’s arm in surprise and horror.

“The fuck-?” Jungmin mutters and tries his hardest to bring his arm down onto Jongin again, and the strain shows on his face and his shoulders, his bicep bulging, but he can’t even move his limb at all. Jinwoon looks pale as he tries to lift his feet from where he was standing, but finds that he can’t move either.

“You know, I’d suggest that you guys get out of my space and get your hands off me.” Jongin meets Jungmin square in the eye, and it irks the older boy to see the confidence reflected in Jongin’s gaze, as though he was so sure of himself. He could feel the fear latch onto him like a Rottweiler bites its prey, when his arm is pulled away on its own accord and both him and Jinwoon moved away from Jongin and towards Sungyeol.

“Fucking _freak_.” Jungmin’s whisper is harsh and full of hate and fear but right now, all that Jongin cares about is getting out of there, and he watches as they tow Sungyeol away between them. Then Jungmin throws yet another warning at him. “You better watch your back, Kim Jongin. You won’t be that lucky the next time I lay my hands on your sorry ass.”

Jongin watches as the three of them leave the alley and then slides down the wall, suddenly feeling very exhausted. He runs a hand through his hair and starts snickering to himself, and doesn’t stop laughing even when people start giving him weird looks. This is a _very_ interesting discovery. Very interesting indeed.

 

\---

 

It wasn’t until two months after that Sungyeol incident does Jongin encounter the three stooges again. They had quit just a few days after their altercation with the younger boy, which frankly, amused Jongin to no end. He had heard about the rumours saying that the company somehow found out about their almost-brawl in the middle of the streets, and had expelled the three from the company.

Jongin finds that weird, however, because he was technically involved in that fiasco as well, but he’s still around. It’s probably more accurate to say that they’d probably quit because of him, he thought. Or perhaps they did poorly in the proficiency test, which really doesn’t come as a surprise at all. In any case, it doesn’t bother Jongin at all. _Good riddance to bad rubbish_ , he finds himself thinking.

It was late, close to the time when the subway would close and he had taken the shortcut he would normally use. He’d left the training room later than usual, trying to nail one of the new bits of choreography that their trainers had given to them. Jongin’s breath puffed out in white smoke as he jogs down the alley.

When three figures stepped out from behind the wall to block his way out, he stops in his tracks, wary. Seeing Jungmin, Jinwoon, and Sungyeol there was a bit of an unwanted surprise; he would’ve thought that if they’d wanted to confront him, they would have done it a lot earlier, instead of waiting for two months to show up again, let alone at this time of the night. Jinwoon and Sungyeol looked nervous and kept looking around them, as if afraid of something, but Jungmin’s arrogant, furious face is the one that got Jongin’s attention.

“Look what the cat brought in.” Jongin drawls, all lazy attitude because he knows it would piss Jungmin off tremendously. He glanced around, smirking when he notices the streetlamp casting the trio’s shadows against the wall. Perfect. He’s been practicing with this strange ability of his, and had gained quite a bit of control over it. If he needed to, he sure as hell won’t hesitate to use it against them again.

“What are you here for? I wouldn’t have thought that I’d be seeing you lot again in this side of Seoul.” Jongin glances idly at his watch - eleven fifteen; he’d have to lose this lot fast if he wanted to make it on the last train.

Jungmin laughs darkly, his eyes narrowed in malice. “I told you I would be back to kick your sorry ass. Don’t think that you’ll be let off the hook that easily.”

The younger boy raised an eyebrow at him. “Knowing what you know about what I can do, you came back here at night, when you know that it would just make it easier for me to use my...ability? Are you for real? At least come find me in the morning or something,” he mock-yawns, watching Jungmin out of the corner of his eye. He could see Jungmin getting more and more pissed off because of his words.

“You little shit, you’re not even sorry that you ruined our lives, are you?! Fucking little bastard, I’ll make you pay for this!” Anger made his face ugly, and he reached a hand into his jacket to pull something out.

Jongin’s eyes widens in shock at the hand pistol which is now being trained at him. He knew that Jungmin hated his guts, but isn’t this going a bit overboard? Behind Jungmin, Sungyeol and Jinwoon stared nervously at the gun in his hands as well.

“H-hyung, maybe we should rethink this.” Sungyeol tries to get Jungmin to reconsider his decision, but gets shoved aside roughly instead.

“He ruined our lives and you’re trying to spare his?” Jungmin turns on his younger friends. “You should be making him pay for it!”

Jinwoon holds up his hands in an attempt to placate Jungmin. “Hyung, I get where you’re coming from, but this is a bit drastic. I know we agreed to getting the gun but to actually _shoot_ him? What if we kill him?!” Jongin shifts his feet, fingers ready to twitch at a moment’s notice.

Jungmin laughs darkly; there’s madness in his eyes.

“Then he _dies_.” He pulls the trigger before Jongin could react, and he manages to freeze the three of them at the end of the alley, but he didn’t think that he could actually _freeze a speeding bullet and it might actually hit him!_

_Fuck, I need to get the hell outta here_ , he thinks wildly to himself, half imagining the small, but deadly projectile travelling ever closer to his face.

_Fuck, fuckity, fuck fuck fuck FUCK-_ he could hear his brain cursing obscenely as he wished he was anywhere but here, away from this maniac and his cronies who had it out for him-

In the next second, his sight blacked out, and then he finds himself standing right smack in the middle of his own room. He falls flat on his ass in relief and surprise, legs still trembling from the madness he had just been put through. He can hardly believe what had happened. His ability with manipulating shadows is already crazy enough, but that he could actually _teleport_?

_Hell yeah._ He starts giggling to himself like a schoolgirl in glee, still high on adrenaline and the _potential_ of his newfound power - and that is how his eldest sister finds him ten minutes later when she hears the weird noises coming from her brother’s room, cackling madly at nothing.

She concludes that he’s officially out of his mind from the strenuous training schedules at SM.

 


	5. {4} in memoria

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> More memories return.

Luhan tries to resist his urge to fiddle with the hem of his shirt nervously as he waits in line for his number to be called for the audition. There’s a whole line of other young hopefuls, both queued up in front and behind him for the JYP auditions, and the nervous and excitement is palpable in the air. He feels extremely tired because of the lack of sleep, no thanks to those meaningless, recurrent dreams which continued to plague him night after night, but willed himself to stay as focused as he could.

Every night, he finds himself running around in the same forest, seeing a variation of different people who were either chasing him, or lying face down on the ground when he stumbled and tripped over them. In total, he thought that there were eleven of them altogether, including the ever elusive Kai. He would also sometimes see himself in a weird-looking outfit, lying motionlessly on the forest floor, bleeding from various cuts all over his body. On such nights, Luhan would wake up screaming.

The only one constant of his dream was Kai’s appearance at the end of it, and Luhan himself never being able to reach him. That smile would always tug at Luhan’s heart, yet he could never fully understand why. He didn’t even _know_ Kai to begin with.

Not one bit of the dream made sense to him - truth being that the dreams never really made sense, but being chased down by a dragon and a phoenix and tripping over unconscious (dead?) people practically every night made it even weirder. A shudder runs down Luhan’s spine when he remembers about the vivid images of blood and cuts and mystical creatures chasing him down. He swallows the bile which threatened to rise in his throat again, hoping that the others would not notice how pale he was.

“Number 73, you’re next.” One of the staff members who is in charge of the audition hopefuls calls out, and Luhan blinks, realising that while he had been reminiscing about his dreams, the line in front of him was gone, and he’s next up on the slightly elevated platform which is supposed to act as the stage for the audition.

He makes his way onto the platform, surreptitiously wiping his sweating hands on his pants as he swallows around the lump of trepidation in his throat. The panel of judges smiles at him encouragingly and he manages to smile back at them, hoping it wasn’t something like a grimace.

Luhan shakily introduces himself to the judges, his nails digging into the flesh of his palms as a reminder for himself to stay focused. He had been preparing for this day ever since he could remember, and it’s a golden opportunity he had to seize. The music plays, and Luhan counts down to the first note of the song, hitting it perfectly in a well-rehearsed manner. The judges nod approvingly, scribbling on their evaluation forms in front of them, and Luhan’s nerves calmed down considerably. At least something is going right today.

Next up is the dance section and Luhan hopes he would ace this as well. He’s spent countless hours in front of the mirror in his dorm room and in the rented dance studio just perfecting his moves, and it comes down to this one moment where he wanted to, _needed_ to shine in front of the judges so that he could get a spot in JYP Entertainment. He starts off on the right foot with his idol Dong Bang Shin Ki’s Rising Sun, moving confidently to the beats, his confidence building as the song went on. _I can do this!_ He thought confidently to himself, when all of a sudden he was assaulted by a slew of images.

 

_”Hyung! Did you see that girl walk by! Did you!” The fair and petite boy with a star-shaped hand accessory and another with large, bulging eyes and a fair amount of eye whites that showed more than his pupil clamoured excitedly over to Luhan, who was sipping a drink calmly, and raised an eyebrow at their antics. Beside him, the boy whom Luhan recognised as the first person he had tripped over in his very first dream about this weird realm shook his head in deep amusement, chuckling._

_“You know he only has eyes for Kai.” He commented, ignoring the not-so-subtle glare that Luhan now shot in his direction._

_“That’s not true. Why don’t you guys ever believe that I’m_ just _friends with Kai?” Luhan heard himself giving an indignant huff at the comment. “Look at your perverted faces; you’re lucky that no one knows we’re the guardians, or we’ll be having some serious issues with our image.”_

_“Good thing that we don’t have to worry about that then,” Another boy with a calm face and bangs that almost cover one eye mentions with a dry smile. “Kris takes care of it all by his lonesome.”_

_“Chanyeol’s catching up too.” The first boy commented thoughtfully as he chewed on a piece of potato wedge. “There’s a large amount of girls ogling at him from outside the shop as we speak,” he then added, pointing towards their left. Luhan found himself transmitting this imagery to the tall boy and they all felt the impression of the fire guardian giving them the equivalent of a mental flip-off, which caused all of them to snicker._

_“Get the fuck off and stop trolling, will you?” Chanyeol’s mind growled, though from the distance, they noticed that he was still smiling at the shopkeeper._

_“And you should stop flirting with the shopkeeper before Baekhyun here burns a hole in the table,” a long-legged, modelesque boy with insanely good looks commented offhandedly, quickly dashing off before said boy managed to comprehend what was actually going on. Said boy who was mentioned scowled hard at the tallest guardian._

_“Hey guys, so what did I miss?” Kai’s voice was suddenly very close to Luhan’s ear and the older boy barely managed to stop himself from jumping in his seat when Kai wrapped his arms around Luhan’s shoulders. The other boys started snickering knowingly at the scene, while Kai raised an eyebrow at them, wondering what the running joke was._

Luhan snaps back into reality when he felt someone grabbing him by the shoulders and shaking him hard. It’s the same staff member from before and he’s looking at Luhan with a sad, wry smile. Luhan feels the pit of his stomach drop at his words.

“You’re done, Number 73.” There is a tone of finality to it, and Luhan just instinctively _knows_ that he has not made the cut. “It’s a real pity that you blacked out there while dancing, because your moves were better than a lot of the others before you. Come back again next year.” The staff member gestures for him to move to the exit at the other end of the room and Luhan bows in return. He bows once again before the panel of judges, some of whom looked at him with expressions of pity, but another two looked at him with piercing eyes, as if judging him for his huge let down.

Luhan can barely manage a wry smile, before walking out of the audition room with his head hung low.

There would be no coming back next year until he managed to get these stupid dreams of his under control. Judging by how frequently he was having them, he was going to have one hell of a time trying to do so.

 

**

 

Jongin scrubs at his eyes tiredly, slouching on his desk even after the school bell had rung. His body felt like someone had wrung him through one of those old clothes wringers that people used to have in medieval times, and his brain felt like cotton wool. Training had been especially intense in these past few months when the trainers had announced that all the trainees had a chance to star in a music video with their seniors DBSK, if they performed well enough both during classes and their proficiency tests. As a result of that, Jongin had to slog through school in the day and practice late into the night, barely getting five hours of sleep on average. He’s actually surprised that he could still stand by the end of the third week of it, really.

In addition to that, he also had to deal with the dreams which seemed to be somehow linked to his mysterious powers, of which he has been trying to learn how to control. Playing around with shadows was the easy part; teleporting, not so. He subconsciously winces when he recalls how he had teleported himself right smack into a wall. The memory made his head ache when he remembers the way he had been seeing stars for practically the rest of the day after that. Ever since then, he stuck to practising his teleporting abilities in short distances. Thankfully, he seems to at least have gained some finesse to _not_ teleport right into a wall after that.

The dreams are so vivid that he’s half-convinced that they _aren’t_ _just_ dreams, but are perhaps memories, from a previous life even. It’s so far-fetched, but then again, his powers were in and of itself in a class of its own. There were many other unfamiliar faces which had appeared in these dreams of his, some of them multiple times, but the only name that stuck to him like glue was “Luhan”. He found himself calling after that particular person on many occasions, before he woke up with a start. Jongin vaguely wonders whether this Luhan person was his closest friend.

Checking his watch, Jongin heaves a forlorn sigh when he realises that his ten minutes of solitary silence was up. It was time to head to the company for another ten hours of practice - eight if luck was on his side.

Grabbing his bag, he shoves his chair backwards and stretches languidly, half-ignoring the not-very-silent squeals coming from some of the girls who were still in the classroom. He feels a half-smirk tug at his lips, and he waves at them as he left the room. As he filed out into the hallways, a mischievous idea struck him; maybe it’s possible for him to shorten the distance to the main entrance. He glances around him surreptitiously, walking a bit further down the hallway and peeking into the surrounding classrooms to make sure there was no one inside. Jongin chances another a look behind him and sees no one sticking their head out of his classroom.

He grins with boyish glee and without another word, teleports out of the hallway, leaving a small wisp of black smoke behind him.

Unbeknownst to him, someone had just turned into the hallway he had been in and _saw_ Jongin disappear into thin air. The pale boy with an _ulzzang_ face rubs his eyes, puzzled and then shrugs, putting it down to his being too tired and seeing things. It was probably the school’s resident ghost. He’s been seeing the same disappearing act a few times over, but had never actually seen the person anywhere else in classes so he couldn’t have been a student...right? Sehun scratches his head absentmindedly and continued walking down the hallway, dismissing the incident from his mind.

 

\---

 

Jongin slumps against the full-length mirrors at the practice room, feeling as though his soul had left him for good. He tiredly mutters his thanks at yet another trainee who came to ask him about his blackout incident, before taking a large gulp of water to rehydrate himself. He pulls his legs close to his chest, pressing his forehead against his knees as he mulls over that particular event. He didn’t have a complete blackout per se, but his dreams - flashbacks? - decided to attack him in the middle of his dance practice, leaving him pale and shaking by the end of it, kneeling on the parquet flooring to catch his breath.

Except, these images aren’t mere flashbacks, nor are they fragmented dreams and half-remembered conversations that made absolutely no sense as what he had previously believed they were. There were too many things going on - too many memories returning about things that he would never have thought possible - and he was giving serious thought as to what - and whom even - he should prioritise first. Now that he thought about it, those intrusive dreams had started ever since he had discovered his shadow manipulation abilities. Jongin is now certain that the flooding of his memories into his consciousness was triggered by the usage of his powers, which had significantly increased as of late, what with his frequent teleportation practice after school.

He was - _is_ \- Kai. The link that connects everyone else. He had no idea if this was a sick joke or an elaborate ploy, but having his memories return to him after all of these years must carry some form of significance. He wished he knew what it was. Kai isn’t sure if any of the other guardians remembered anything about EXO Planet, but after this manifestation of his powers, it’s becoming clear to him that getting all the guardians to remember their past and replanting the Tree of Life needed to come first. The running problem is - _where_ is it, and how is he supposed to locate the other guardians?

“Hey, how are you doing?” Another soft voice made him look up tiredly, and he recognises that pale face – Junmyeon, wasn’t it? He stares up at the older trainee, and something else clicks in his mind. This person was in his dreams - _memories_ , he firmly reminded himself now - too. It can’t be such a coincidence that Jongin would see him here too. _Suho_ , his mind supplied, and he remembers the guardian of water who used to amuse him with his manipulation of the water fountains as a child back on EXO Planet. Jongin’s heart aches with that sense of familiarity and he wanted to - _needed_ to - find at least one of the guardians whom he could at least share this with.

“I’m fine, just a little exhausted, that’s all. School’s been a bitch.” Jongin manages with a wry smile, and Junmyeon chuckles. He vaguely wonders whether Junmyeon - _Suho_ ’s powers have been awakened, and if the older boy actually remembers about their past life.

Hesitantly, the need to find out if Suho remembers overpowers his want to stay away from everyone. “Junmyeon-ssi...do you ever have any, you know...weird dreams? The type that seem really improbable but yet somehow, so real at the same time?” Jongin hedges, knowing the question is rather strange.

Junmyeon frowns a little as he mulls over the question. “I’ve dreamt about myself getting chased by mystical creatures in the forest. I don’t know. You’ll have to be a little more specific.”

“Well... like. Like having... supernatural powers or something. Like... being able to control the elements…?” Jongin trails off while he winces internally, because even to him, it _sounds_ lame, let alone to Junmyeon.

“I’m sure most people would have dreamed about what it’s like to have super powers in our childhood, Jongin-ssi,” Junmyeon laughs, patting Jongin on the head. The younger boy mock scowls at him and Junmyeon chuckles some more. “You’d make a really cute little brother.”

Jongin pouts some more at the notion, though he was fretting over other things instead. Junmyeon evidently did not remember anything about their past lives as the guardians of EXO Planet, and this posed an enormous challenge to Jongin. How is he supposed to make Suho remember? His line of thought is interrupted when Junmyeon ruffles his hair again, then pats him on the shoulder.

“C’mon, let’s get out of here. I’ll buy you something to eat at the stall nearby.”

Jongin could feel his smile widen into a very, very big grin. “Hyung, I think I love you already,” he says impishly, and laughs when Junmyeon flicks him in the forehead.

 

\---------

 

Two more weeks later, Jongin finds himself in the same room as Junmyeon and another new, freakishly tall and pretty trainee called Chanyeol. They were staring at each other with confused looks on their faces, unable to bring themselves to believe what they had just been told by their trainers. The three of them are the ones chosen to be in the MV with their seniors DBSK.

“I’m not dreaming, am I?” Chanyeol’s the first to speak up after a pregnant pause, still blinking his large, round eyes at the other two. Jongin can understand why he’s so overwhelmed by the announcement – he had been in the company for no more than a week or two. Jongin doesn’t know if Chanyeol had noticed it yet, but he was starting to garner the kind of envious and hateful glares that Jongin had first endured when he’d arrived the year before that. The trainers may think that Chanyeol is talented enough to make the cut, but the other trainees may not look at it that way.

Seeing Chanyeol is also another bit of evidence to Jongin that his memories were frighteningly real, and also an assurance that he’d somehow meet all of the guardians one way or another. He thought he’d caught sight of Kris once in one of the other hallways too, but he hadn’t seen him since. Foreign trainees had different schedules which included intensive lessons in the Korean language after all, and Jongin had no idea how he should search for Kris, or how to strike up a conversation with the trainee who was the epitome of God reincarnated (at least, that’s what the female trainees have been gushing about all day and night) without making himself look like an oddball.

He’d had his reservations at first about meeting Kris and Chanyeol again, considering that the last time he’d seen them, the two tallest members of the guardians had been fighting the rest of the guardians but neither of them seemed to recognise him at all. It’s both a relief and a disappointment; Jongin had no idea which feeling dominates. But at least Luhan’s initial wish of trying to wake both Kris and Chanyeol up from the evil influence they were under has been fulfilled... somewhat.

Jongin wonders what would happen once they finally regain their memories. Would they still be friends, or would the pair turn on the group once again like they did on EXO Planet before it was destroyed?

Jongin had no idea why they had ended up on Earth like this, being raised as humans and growing up once again with no recollection of who they had been. He had vague flashbacks of that fateful day, but none concrete enough to tell him what exactly had gone wrong along the way. The only thing he knew for sure was that all twelve of them were separated before they had even entered Earth’s atmosphere. He remembers his eyes opening in horror as he felt all of them slip away from his grasp; he remembers Luhan’s resigned smile and Tao’s futile attempts to maintain bodily contact before all of them were pulled in different directions, and then it was complete darkness. When he tried to prod further into his lost memories he would almost always end up being in pain.

For now all he could do was bide his time until he could actually find one of the other guardians who remembered even a sliver of memory about EXO planet and who they once were.

Jongin's eyes flitted to his two fellow trainees as an idea pops into mind. He’d asked Junmyeon not that long ago and at that time he’d never had any recollection... but maybe with Chanyeol it would be different. After observing the lanky boy every now and then, he’s noticed how the older boy would glance at his fingers sometimes, as if anticipating something. It’s an old habit of the fire guardian he once knew, when that Chanyeol was still alien to his abilities in the beginning.

"Hey Chanyeol-ssi, I know this might seem weird to you, but have you ever had, you know, any dreams or anything where you're on another planet and have all these cool supernatural powers and all?" He still thinks it sounds kind of lame, and the withering look that Junmyeon was giving him says it all.

“You’re still going on about that?” Junmyeon asks.

Chanyeol's reaction, however seems somewhat promising as Jongin notices that knowing, then wary look coming into the taller boy's eyes. "What about it?"

A victorious smirk creeps onto Jongin’s lips. _Gotcha_.

“Just curious. I mean, it would be cool if I were able to teleport everywhere – I’m not trying to say that I _can_ , though,” he quickly amends himself when Chanyeol stiffens ever so slightly at his confession. “So I was just wondering, have you ever had such dreams before? Junmyeon-hyung said that I’ve been watching too many cartoons.”

“Yeah?” Chanyeol tries to pass it off nonchalantly, but Jongin can already tell from the look in his eyes that he was interested in knowing more. “Well, I always thought it’d be cool if I could control fire, you know?”

Jongin tries to keep on a straight face at Chanyeol’s answer. He’s excited by the revelation, and is itching to ask Chanyeol even more about their past lives as guardians, but his head is spinning from the ecstasy. He has no idea where to start asking, and _how_. He therefore settles with a delighted “Cool!”

Junmyeon eyes Jongin and gives him a warning look. “Jongin-ah...”

Said boy decided to be a bit of a brat for a while, and at the same time check if anything else would jog either of the older guardians’ memories.

“You know, Junmyeon-hyung, I can totally see you controlling water and like, throwing globes of water and entrapping people in them and like you know, making some huge tsunami and stuff! It’d be totally awesome!” For a moment he thought he saw something akin to recognition flicker in Junmyeon’s eyes, but when he blinked again it was gone. Chanyeol, however, seems to have gotten even stiffer than he had been before, eyes slightly glazed over.

Junmyeon catches on to that, however, and he stops Jongin from saying any more about it. “Give the new trainee a break, Jongin,” he berates gently, before turning towards Chanyeol. “Chanyeol-ssi, you don’t look too well. Are you okay?”

The taller boy blinks a few times, rubbing his eyes slightly before smiling at Junmyeon. “Yeah, I’m fine thanks, Junmyeon-ssi. Just zonked out a little there,” he laughs weakly, running a hand through his long hair. The look in his eyes when he meets Jongin’s holds a very different message, however.

_We need to talk._

 


	6. {5} revenīre

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> revenīre (Latin): to return

Almost a week later, Jongin finds himself being stopped by Chanyeol as he was walking down the hallway towards the locker rooms to get changed after practice.

“Jongin-ssi, do you have a minute to spare? There’s something I want to talk to you about. About what you mentioned that day, you know, about how cool it would be to have supernatural powers and stuff.” Chanyeol’s eyes are a bit shifty, and he is trying to feign nonchalance, but the nervous tics that his long limbs give off have already been keenly observed by Jongin’s eyes. Jongin smiles inwardly, already knowing _exactly_ what it is that Chanyeol wants to talk about, and he smiles widely as he turns around to face the taller boy.

“Chanyeol-ssi. What’s up?” Jongin chirrups.

Chanyeol glances around for a bit more, before uttering “we need somewhere more private” in a low voice and pulls Jongin along with him, heading for an empty practice studio down the hall. He pushes open the door, peeks in, neck stretching like a giraffe to check that there isn’t anyone hiding in any corner of the room before he all but shoves Jongin in. The younger boy stifles a bit of laughter; from the way Chanyeol is acting, anyone who had actually seen them enter the room would have thought that they were having some kind of tryst. The taller boy flicks on the lights and then looks seriously at Jongin.

Chanyeol clears his throat uncomfortably while Jongin grins knowingly. “Since you already seem to know more than I do, Jongin-ssi, what would you happen to understand about these supernatural powers?”

Jongin cocks his head to the side and observes Chanyeol with deep interest, feeling every bit mischievous. “Oh, I know _a lot_. What would you like to find out?” He smiles, pulling a swivel chair towards him and resting his arms on the backrest. The taller boy looks at him with narrowed eyes, catching on quite quickly that Jongin is being a pain in the ass and yanking his chain because he already knows, and Chanyeol doesn’t. At least, not as much as he’d like to.

“What about... can you show me what you can do?”

“Is there a particular reason why I should agree to that?” Jongin raises an eyebrow in challenge, a cheeky smile lighting up his face.

Chanyeol frowns, getting slightly irritated at the younger boy. “Fine then, will you show me what you can do, if I show you what I’m capable of?”

“Well... show me first, then. Prove to me that you’re the real deal,” Jongin drawls. It doesn’t escape Chanyeol’s notice that the younger boy hasn’t promised to show his powers if Chanyeol shows his, but right now, he figures he doesn’t have much of a choice, and he really _has_ been itching to know for _years_ already.

With a sigh, Chanyeol turns his gaze onto his own fingers, placing his full attention on calling out his powers. Despite having discovered his abilities to create fire for a very long while now, Chanyeol still can’t figure out how to control them. He would occasionally find himself leaving a trail of fire on the pavement, but thankfully the streets were empty most of the time. On several other occasions, he wasn’t as lucky, and more often than not, he would find himself doused with water before he could even say ‘stop!’

It’s a good thing nothing had happened since he had joined the company, but then again, he was only about a month into training, and there was no telling when his misbehaving powers might cause a scene. Judging by his behaviour and actions, Jongin seems to hold the key behind these abilities, and Chanyeol was banking on this to find a solution.

Chanyeol inhales, then as he exhales slowly, a small flame comes into being in the middle of his palm, hovering. Jongin’s eyes are shining in anticipation. It only lasted for a couple of seconds before Chanyeol’s concentration wanes, and the flames flickered out of sight. Chanyeol sighs, sweating slightly as he looks at Jongin’s face for his reaction, but the younger boy’s poker face didn’t give much away.

“That’s all?” Jongin raises an eyebrow; he had thought Chanyeol might have had more control over his powers. But the fact that he was only able to maintain the flame for just a few seconds, proves that his abilities are a far cry from when they had been on EXO Planet. It’s probably a good thing that Chanyeol could not shape-shift into a phoenix, but being unable to use his abilities at will... it didn’t quite bode well for the fire guardian.

“Are you mocking me right now, Jongin-ssi?” Chanyeol lets out a low growl, frustrated at himself and also at the younger boy. He was usually better at this; he didn’t know whether he could attribute his failure to perform today to his nervousness.

“No.” Jongin replies earnestly. “I was expecting more, though. How long has it been since you’ve discovered you could do this?”

Chanyeol mutters to himself, trying to remember clearly.

“Well... when I was six I accidentally burnt my mother when I was having a temper tantrum over candy... but I didn’t remember that until recently. Then I really lit up some... unsavoury characters with some flames a bit earlier this year when I got really pissed off. Since then I’ve been trying to practice and stuff, but there isn’t really much to work with, and I think my control is a bit off because I tend to leave behind trails of fire on the pavement when I walk at times so...” He trails off, not quite knowing whether he’d actually answered Jongin’s question.  

“Hmm...” The younger boy hums in deep thought. Jongin wonders if Chanyeol’s powers are diminished – or if it actually affects all of them – because they are on Earth. His own abilities don’t seem to work well enough either, and it frustrates him. “How much do you remember, then?”

Chanyeol blinks slowly, as if trying to break down Jongin’s words into something more understandable. “Remember...?” He questions the younger boy, who nods slowly. “Am I supposed to remember something?” A frown now creased Chanyeol’s forehead.

Jongin nearly falls off his chair at the question, but at least he now knew that it was possible for guardians to regain their abilities without their memories. “It’s alright. We have time to work on that, _I hope_ ,” he says gingerly, muttering the last two words under his breath. Jongin still couldn’t figure out the reasons why their – _his_ – memories and abilities had to return right now, especially when they won’t have much use for them anyway. “What about any dreams then? Have you had any dreams about controlling fire? Being able to handle your power more than you can right now?”

Chanyeol paused to think. “No,” comes the earnest reply. “But I did have dreams about a phoenix. Does that have anything to do with me being able to control fire?” Jongin practically leaps off his chair in excitement. _Finally!_

“What do you remember about it?”

“It was warm, like I was burning up.” Chanyeol describes, trying as much as he can to recall the details. “I don’t know, it seemed like I was engulfed in flames,” he frowns slightly, remembering something else. “You know, I also had a feeling as though I wasn’t exactly in control of my mind right then? As if I was there, but there was someone else directing my movements? I can’t remember exactly what happened, but there was that _other_ presence.”

Jongin gulps. So Luhan’s theory back then was right; someone _was_ controlling Kris and Chanyeol’s minds – but who? No one else apart from their family members knew that they were the guardians. Their initiation rituals were kept out of the public eye, mostly in order for the guardians to live freely when they were not bound to their duties. Jongin scrubs his hair in frustration; there were too many mysteries surrounding the deterioration of EXO Planet, and _how_ and _why_ Kris and Chanyeol had been controlled by someone else, but he had practically no information – and no one to bounce ideas off on – about what could have actually happened.

“So... since I showed you what I can do, won’t you show me what you can do, too?” Chanyeol’s voice brings Jongin out of his reverie. The look in the older boy’s eyes is beseeching, and Jongin shelves away his thoughts for another day – _maybe when I’ve found Luhan then we can actually get somewhere_ – and slides off his chair.

“Well, remember when I was telling you the other day about teleporting and stuff?” The younger boy moves to the far corner of the room away from Chanyeol, who nods in interest.

“I can do this-” Jongin disappears mid-sentence and Chanyeol’s eyes widen exponentially, his eyebrows practically disappearing under his fringe when the younger boy reappears again a few paces away from Chanyeol.

“Whoa...” Chanyeol breathes out, clapping like a seal in excitement. “Do it again!” Chanyeol exclaims. The younger boy preens at the attention and obliges and disappears, leaving behind a wisp of black smoke, then reappearing at the side of the door.

“More!” The taller boy demands, apparently having too much fun with this. Jongin obliges with a grin and teleports around the room in short bursts, and Chanyeol is truly starting to clap like a maniac. Forgetting that they are actually trying to hide their powers from public view in the first place – which was the whole reason that Chanyeol had dragged Jongin into the training room that was far away from the usual path – the older boy exclaims, “Hey, can you teleport outside the room?”

Jongin’s only reply is a smirk and the characteristic curl of black smoke he leaves behind as he teleports _out_ of the room, and Chanyeol waits excitedly for him to reappear in the room again – but the younger boy does not. Feeling confused, Chanyeol walks to the door and opens it, eyes widening at the sight that welcomed him.

There, on the floor, Jongin was perched on top of Junmyeon with their faces barely inches away from each other, both with shocked expressions on their faces.

Jongin is the one who recovers first with a sheepish smile. “Um. Hi, hyung?”

Junmyeon looks from the room door, to Chanyeol, then Jongin, and then back to the room door again, bewildered. “Did you just-? How on earth did you-? _What’s going on?_ ” Junmyeon is completely at a loss and can’t even form complete sentences. He had seen Chanyeol and Jongin enter the room and had thought that he might as well wait for them both to finish before he asked them to join him for supper, but hearing some of the things that had filtered through the not-entirely-soundproof door had gotten him more and more curious to the point where he was practically pressing his ear to the door in an attempt to hear what was going on.

And _then_ Jongin had suddenly appeared out of nowhere, flailing right into him and sending both of them crashing to the floor.

Junmyeon was about to heave Jongin off of him and interrogate the pair when he freezes in his position, a barrage of unfamiliar images suddenly intruding his mind. He sees flashes of himself in weird-looking robes, looking up at an ancient-looking tree; then there were snippets of Jongin – _Kai?_ – Chanyeol and other unfamiliar faces, laughing together with him, before the images transitioned into horror-filled ones.

He finds himself staring down what looked to be a phoenix and a dragon – _good lord, what on earth?_ – while he and another boy staved off their flames by manipulating water and ice to put up a thick wall to protect the others; watching in horror as a wall of black flames swept across the land towards them, but not having enough power to work up a wall that had any chance of meeting the flames head on right and thinking faintly – _are we going to just die like this?_ – and a split-second before the flames would collide with them, a dome of earth suddenly rising around them and encasing them in pitch-black darkness, giving them a chance to recuperate, even if just for a few minutes, while the fire hisses past the dome, making the earth heat up slightly, but never letting the flames in.

And then the images stop abruptly, pulling Junmyeon back into reality. He finds Jongin’s and Chanyeol’s concerned faces staring down at him, and realised that they had dragged him into the practising studio the pair had previously occupied. He smiles weakly at them, waving off their worried looks, then grins at Jongin.

“I remember... _Kai_.” The shell-shocked face on the youngest boy is absolutely _priceless_ to Junmyeon. He is practically flattened by Jongin not two seconds later when the younger guardian _flings_ himself at Junmyeon, wailing.

“ _Suho- hyung!!!!!!!!_ I can’t believe it, there’s someone else apart from me who remembers! _”_ Jongin is elated, and clings to Junmyeon like a limpet; the older boy gingerly pats him on the back and ruffles his hair while Chanyeol watches, slightly amused by the sight and is reminded at times like these that Jongin is indeed one of the younger ones in the company, no matter how mature he appeared most of the time.

“I don’t remember _everything_ , Kai. Just bits of it. You still have to fill me-” Junmyeon shoots a look at Chanyeol, who seems slightly confused with the name, and amends himself. “- _us_ in about everything.” The younger boy nodded against Junmyeon’s shoulder, sniffling. Junmyeon freezes slightly.

“...Are you wiping your snot on my shirt?!”

Chanyeol’s booming laughter echoes throughout the room.

 

\---

 

They find themselves huddled together in Junmyeon’s dorm room several hours later, what with the older male dragging Chanyeol and Jongin along with him right after supper. (Although the oldest boy was from Seoul, he had opted to stay in the trainee dorms because he hadn’t wanted to face all the disapproving looks that he got from his parents when he got home late after training at odd hours. Joining the agency was not one of the things that his family liked to talk about.)

Even though they were exhausted from practice, the trio were too excited over their newfound bond to get a rest. Luckily, tonight Junmyeon has the room to himself as the other two trainees he shares the room with have gone home for the weekend to spend time with their families.

"So, what do the other guardians look like? Can you at least draw them so that we can recognise them or something? I mean, you're the only one who knows how everyone looks like, since the rest of us are a bit foggy on the memories," Junmyeon points out. “I can’t even remember everyone’s names, except for Luhan’s and yours.”

Chanyeol nods sagely, handing the pencil and a piece of paper to Jongin, who shoots him a wary look.

"Hyung, my drawing skills are nothing short of horrendous. It’s even worse than a kindergartener," he deadpans at both of them, pairing this with puppy eyes that he hopes would persuade them that he _really_ doesn’t want to draw the other guardians.

Junmyeon just nods towards the piece of paper. "I'm sure it can't be as horrible as you say it is, Jongin-ah. Just try to draw at least one of them. Luhan, maybe." He knows that Jongin would probably have the deepest impression of Luhan, considering how much time they had spent being around each other in the past. Luhan is also one of the faces that Junmyeon remembers amongst those of the other guardians, present company excluded.

Jongin brightens slightly. He thinks he'd be able to do a pretty accurate depiction of Luhan. He takes the paper and pencil from Chanyeol and starts drawing avidly, tongue sticking out of his mouth slightly in utmost concentration. He is so focused on drawing Luhan that he doesn't notice the expressions on Chanyeol's and Junmyeon's faces as he draws. Their expressions change from curious, to outright horrified to almost constipated from trying not to burst out laughing, because it _really_ looks ridiculous.

When Jongin finally finishes drawing and presents it to them with a flourish and the grin of a proud child, Chanyeol can no longer hold his laughter in and he guffaws loudly, falling off the chair, and causing Junmyeon to follow suit with a less epic reaction. Jongin frowns at them, slightly hurt.

"Hyung! Why are you laughing like that!" He wails cutely and Junmyeon laughs some more.

"J-J-Jongin-ah," Junmyeon manages to cough out in between laughs; Chanyeol is still howling and practically rolling on the floor in laughter.

"I really don't think we would be able to identify Luhan with all the sparkles that you've drawn and that squiggly crown on his head."

"...But hyung, that's his hair!" Jongin cries out, affronted. Chanyeol who has almost stopped laughing, starts wheezing again.

Jongin heaves a dismayed sigh at their reactions, slumping onto the carpeted floor with a disgruntled huff. “I _told_ you I have absolutely no talents in drawing. This isn’t going to work.”

It would have been much easier if Jongin had managed to find Luhan first. At least then, the other guardian might be able to transmit images of what the others looked like so that they knew who to look out for. Although Jongin remembered what they looked like, he can’t transmit the images to those who already know about their past, and seeing as how his drawing skills are _so awesome they made Chanyeol roll on the floor_ , they would only be able to identify the others if they brought them to Jongin.

“Well then let’s forget about remembering the rest for now, if it can’t be helped,” Junmyeon gives an encouraging pat on Jongin’s back, flashing a tender smile at the younger boy. Jongin suddenly shot up and straightened himself, his eyes sparkling with excitement.

“Maybe your memories would return if you used your powers more!” Kai suggests, grinning from ear to ear. “I mean, I started off by finding out about my shadow manipulation powers, and no memory whatsoever about the rest. But when I was able to have a better control over that ability, and discovered my teleportation powers, everything came back to me!”

“While that’s a great idea, where would we able to practice our powers without other people noticing it? If we practised at the company, there’s no telling when someone would barge into the training room,” Chanyeol stretches out languidly on the floor, chin on his hands as he looks up at both of them.

“Also, I have no idea how to make my powers work right now,” Junmyeon admits gingerly. His lips are pulled up into a wry smile. “I only regained some of my memories earlier when you sent me sprawling, but nothing else,” the eldest boy points out.

“Does this mean I should do that more often so that you’ll remember more?” Jongin jokes half-heartedly, then pouts at the semi-glare that Junmyeon sends in his direction.

“Don’t you even dare,” the older boy says, and Jongin sniffs slightly, giving a small “Hmph. It was just an idea.”

“Well, maybe we can rotate around training in each other’s houses whenever our family members are out,” Chanyeol nods to Jongin, “Or the dorms when your roommates aren’t around?” This is directed to Junmyeon.

“That would work,” Jongin agrees and turns to Junmyeon, looking at him expectantly. The oldest boy nods slowly, contemplating it. “I guess it could work, but we would just have to be extra careful about using our powers, and be sure that nobody else is around when we use them.” He eyes Jongin warily. “And that would mean no more teleporting around the company just because it’s that much faster.”

Jongin lets out a whine of protest. “But I could get myself home in one piece within a second instead of having to take the subway!” Junmyeon rolls his eyes at the younger boy’s antics.

“You do know that the company actually keeps a log of when you clock in and clock out, and that there are _video cameras_ in some of the rooms right? It would look a bit odd if they find out that you clock in, but never clock out, yet come in the next day. We’re probably lucky that no one has said anything so far.” He looks at Jongin disapprovingly, trying not to melt at the puppy dog eyes and pout that the younger one shows him.

“But-”

“No buts, Jongin. I know you and Luhan were the ones who led us on EXO planet, but we’re on Earth now and I am older than you in terms of age. What have we learned in school regarding the age differences?” Junmyeon challenges. A smirk plays on his lips when Jongin’s head dips dejectedly.

“We have to respect our seniors, and pay attention to the honorifics,” Jongin repeats monotonously, just like how his teacher used to make the class repeat after him way back in elementary school. Chanyeol barely manages to stifle his laughter into his hands. It’s like watching a father reprimand a wayward son.

“That’s right.” Junmyeon pats down Jongin’s hair in a patronising manner, and the younger boy scowls, bottom lip jutting out. “So, listen to your hyungs ok?”

“Fine, but only because you bought me food. You’ll continue doing so, won’t you?” Jongin asks hopefully. Chanyeol fairly sniggers at this, while Junmyeon rolls his eyes. Jongin sneakily thinks that he won’t mention his teleporting acts at school to his hyung, so at least he can still do that, right? What Junmyeon didn’t know wouldn’t hurt anyone. This would be his little secret.

“That is the unfortunate role of a senior, so yes. Do I have a choice?” The water guardian laments. He pats Jongin’s head _really hard_ , as if in retaliation, and the younger boy scowls even harder.

“You gotta feed me too, hyung!” The tallest boy finally chips in his two cents with a toothy grin and Junmyeon sighs. At the rate these two ate, he just might have to put aside even more of his allowance to feed these two bottomless pits.

“Alright, alright. Now that we’ve got that settled, why don’t we try practising our powers or something? We have no idea what lies ahead of us and we never know when we might need to use them.” The younger two nod in acknowledgement of Junmyeon’s reasoning. Chanyeol sits upright and makes concentrates on his fingers as if to summon his fire, but Junmyeon hastily stops him before he does.

“Wait! Not yet! At least let me get some water first so that you don’t end up burning down my dorm!”

 


	7. {6} the wind blows

“Hey. Hey!” Jongin, Chanyeol and Suho stop in their tracks and turn around when they hear a voice calling after them. There is a lanky boy jogging down the hallway towards the trio, very pale, tall and good-looking enough to be named an _ulzzang_ by fangirl standards. Jongin raises an eyebrow in question as the boy tries to regain his breath.

“Are you looking for somebody?” Being the oldest, Junmyeon asks the boy good-naturedly, completely missing the odd looks Jongin kept on casting in his direction. Chanyeol, on the other hand, narrows his eyes at Jongin, wondering what the hell the younger boy was up to.

The newcomer pants slightly, pointing a finger straight at Jongin. "You, you're the guy from school who kept appearing and disappearing in the hallways after school!" Junmyeon gives the younger boy that side glance that practically spells _You’re in trouble_ , and Jongin gulps. _Damn it, busted!_ _Hyung’s gonna have my skin!_

"I even thought you were a ghost! Wait, are you?" He narrows his eyes at Jongin, and then reaches out to pinch Jongin’s arm, who retracts his limb in lightning speed.

“Hey! What was that for?!” The tanned boy scowls at him, and rubs his arm to alleviate the pain. The other boy frowns, not having expected to be touching a solid person.

“Damn, and here I thought I’d found the school ghost!”

“What is _wrong_ with you? Are you sure you weren’t hallucinating? I heard that long schooling hours can wreak havoc on your senses!” Jongin shoots back, hoping that he was able to salvage the situation. Junmyeon puts a knuckle to the younger boy’s head, kneading it into his head in warning.

“Kim Jongin, what did I _say_?” Junmyeon’s voice is disapproving, Chanyeol’s laughter is echoing off the walls and the new boy is looking at them with a blank face, confused with the current turn of events.

Jongin flashes a guilty grin at Junmyeon. “Hyung, I don’t think this is a proper setting to discuss about that?” He says, before quickly turning to the new boy with renewed enthusiasm – so much that it actually makes the boy take a cautious step backwards.

“Sehun-ah,” the new boy gives a start at his name – because _how does he know it?_ – and Jongin grabs his elbow, towing the bewildered boy after him. Chanyeol and Junmyeon exchange knowing looks and follow after the other two. The name rings a bell in both of their minds; this must be one of the guardians that they have not regained their memories of yet, they gathered. The boy did not give a formal introduction of himself, yet Jongin was able to call him with such sense of familiarity and so naturally.

“So tell me,” Jongin continues after they have all congregated in an empty training room. Chanyeol vaguely wonders if this is going to be a habit every time they find a guardian, and if their agency is some kind of attraction ground for the other guardians to inevitably drift towards it and meet. If that were the case, then it would simplify things; at least they didn’t have to go around looking for everyone else. “Were you looking for someone in particular?”

“I – uh – yeah, I was wondering where I should head to. I’m new here, you see. Also, I’m Oh Sehun, though you seem to already know...” Sehun had a small frown on his face as he glanced around the empty training room, as if feeling conflicted as to why he was brought here by people he didn’t even know. “And I thought I recognised you from school – well, actually I was curious as to what the school ghost was doing here in the agency, really – so I thought I could ask you...?”

Jongin freezes in his position again, the blood draining from his face. He thought that the subject had already been abandoned, but apparently not. Sehun’s persistent as hell in getting his answers. He can feel Junmyeon’s judging gaze boring holes into his back, and he gulps. “I’m just a regular trainee here, _really_ ,” Jongin insists. “Which school are you from?”

Sehun stares right back at him, face blank, but his eyes are knowing. “Seoul High School of Performing Arts, same as you of course. I think we’re in the same grade. Why else would I refer to you as the school ghost? Now that I’ve realised, you’re quite the high-profile figure, too. You’ve performed in most of our school festivals, haven’t you? Whoa! I never knew you were an SM trainee too!” Jongin’s silent plea with his eyes for him to _shut the fuck up_ go unnoticed as Junmyeon’s ire behind Jongin builds steadily.

“Didn’t you say you had no idea where to report to?” Jongin completely ignores Sehun’s words, the corner of his eye twitching in annoyance. As much as he loved Sehun in the past while they were still the guardians on EXO Planet, he secretly wishes that he could just push Sehun out of the window and let him fall three storeys to his death, right about... _now_. He chances a glance back at Junmyeon and gulps at the seemingly angelic smile on the oldest boy’s face. Telling Sehun about the past could wait; getting out of Junmyeon’s range was more important right now.

Junmyeon’s aura is _really_ scaring him.

Jongin grabs the other boy’s arm again and puts on his best megawatt smile, surreptitiously pulling the newbie out of the room in a forceful manner. “I’ll show you around then! I’ll catch you later, Junmyeon-hyung, Chanyeol-hyung! I’ll call you up for dinner!” The two of them are out of the room before Sehun can even blink, leaving behind a seething Junmyeon and chuckling Chanyeol.

“That brat knows better than to use his powers where people could see him. What if there are CCTVs in his school corridors?” Junmyeon frets once they’re out of earshot, his brows furrowing.

Chanyeol laughs again for the umpteenth time that day, deeply amused by Junmyeon’s worries. “They would probably think that Jongin’s the school ghost too. In any case, we’ve found another guardian, though I don’t think he remembers us. What should we do?” He asks Junmyeon, sighing when the memories of Kris blatantly ignoring his numerous attempts at creating a conversation came back to him. He had a feeling that Kris secretly thinks that he’s a weirdo who was probably trying to hit on him.

“Well, with any luck, he’s either already figured out his abilities, or our proximity to him might trigger his memories. In any case, we’ll still have to keep an eye out for any of the other guardians, and keep training. We’ve improved after training together in comparison to when we were training on our own... with the exception of a few of our near freak accidents of course.”

Junmyeon smiles as he recalls the time Chanyeol almost set his bed on fire and he practically drenched both the taller boy _and_ the bed in a panicky attempt to save the dorm before it went up in flames. He’s lucky his roommates bought the excuse about it being a prank that the boys had played on him in order to get him to wake up. Poor Chanyeol had looked so guilty over that, and it had taken quite some time for Junmyeon and Jongin to coax him into using his powers again in the dorms. He had only perked up after Junmyeon had promised to buy him his favourite cookies – chocolate chip walnut – and ice cream – the expensive and oftentimes obscure _Ben & Jerry’s Phish Food_ (Junmyeon’s wallet cries out at the injustice of it all).

(Donghae-sunbaenim saw Chanyeol eating said ice cream flavour once, and ended up crying for a totally different reason altogether. When Eunhyuk-sunbaenim dragged him away, he had whispered to Junmyeon that it had something to do with the shorter boy’s ‘fishy’ nickname. Junmyeon had no clue what he was going on about until he had typed in “Donghae” and “fish” one day, and had ended up with a zillion results that mentioned Donghae and clownfish together.)

“Ugh, don’t remind me.” Chanyeol shudders at the thought. He was thankful that his powers were under better control now. He definitely didn’t want a repeat of that stupid incident where he had accidentally singed his fringe while practising. He ended up wearing a beanie for the rest of the freaking _month_ before his hair grew back into place. Jongin and Junmyeon refused to leave him alone for that, ending up in stitches whenever he pulled the headgear off. They only stopped when he threatened to do the same to their hair. He was also thankful that he was no longer leaving flaming footprints behind him when he walked on the pavement – although Jongin occasionally cracked up and joked that Chanyeol was stealing his power when there were wisps of black smoke that trailed behind him at times.

Chanyeol effectively shut the boy up by _accidentally_ burning the sleeve of Jongin’s jacket. This had resulted in the younger boy flipping out and trying to take off his jacket as fast as humanly possible – but Junmyeon had joined in rather gleefully, even though he was careful not to let it show _too much_ on his face – on the fun by drenching the youngest boy in water. Jongin looked every bit regretful that he had helped them learn how to control their abilities from beneath his damp hair.

Since then, Jongin would wear his hoodie half-off his shoulders, a mitigation plan for when Chanyeol would accidentally-on-purpose set his clothes on fire again. When they have dance practice with the other trainees, the rest just rolled their eyes and assumed that Jongin was wearing his hoodie like that during some of the more vigorous choreography on purpose, and was a practice attempt for when he had an actual performance, but Chanyeol and Junmyeon know better and would grin whenever this happens.

“We better wait for him at the usual training room, then.” Junmyeon suggests. He had the feeling that a certain Oh Sehun would be tagging along soon enough.

 

\---

 

“-And here we have the main training rooms for dance classes. You need to make sure that you keep checking the schedule that is posted up on the door every week if you want to use it in your free time, because sometimes the senior artists book it if there’s a comeback on the way.” Jongin shrugs a shoulder. “When that happens we normally choose one of the less-used rooms for practice. Those are much smaller and can’t fit more than four people, maximum, and you can’t see your movements as well as in the main ones. Well, I guess that’s pretty much it.” Sehun nods his head silently in reply.

“Got it. Thanks for the tour. So... are you going to tell me how it’s possible for you to-” Sehun’s question is cut off when Jongin claps a hand over his mouth just as a crowd of trainees pass by. They glance at the duo strangely, Jongin smiling slightly in greeting, and only removes his hand from Sehun’s mouth after they are much further down the corridor, and completely out of sight.

Jongin wastes no time in pulling Sehun away from that area.

When they arrive at a quieter corridor, Jongin suddenly reels around and pushes Sehun up against the wall, eyeing him with a dangerous smile on his lips. Sehun visibly swallows at the distance – or rather, lack thereof – between his and Jongin’s faces.  “You’re never going to give it a rest, are you?”

“How about... no.” Sehun tries to make his voice sound as deadpan as possible while meeting Jongin’s eyes, almost going cross-eyed. “If I get too curious, I might just ask someone else and _then_ where will you be with your little secret?”

“What I’m sure is that you’ll be six feet under before you can even finish pronouncing your own name.” Jongin says, his eyes narrowing slightly. He figures that he might as well oblige with Sehun’s insistence. “Truth is, I’m a messenger from hell, and I’m about to bring you on the ride of your life.”

“Wha-” Before Sehun can even say anything else, a cloud of black smoke rose up from below and engulfed the pair. The last thing he saw before he was swallowed up by the darkness was Jongin’s menacing – yet mischievous? – smile. When he blinks again, they are in a training room – with the other two boys he had seen earlier. Sehun watches, slightly dazed as Jongin lets go of his shirt and walks off towards the shorter boy whom he called Junmyeon hyung.

“Before you cuff my head, I’d just like to say that this boy here nearly rattled everything out in the hallways,” Jongin says nonchalantly as he takes his place on the parquet flooring. Junmyeon merely stares at him oddly, and did nothing else.

“So I guess we’ll just have to let him in about everything now instead of waiting until later?” The tall, lanky boy called Chanyeol stretches against the wall, leaning forward as he cracks out the kinks in his back. “Hi, Sehun-ssi, I’m Chanyeol by the way!” He grins at Sehun from the mirror.

“You look... familiar...” Sehun cocks his head to the side and scrutinised Chanyeol’s appearance, as Junmyeon and Jongin perks up in attention. The trio immediately deflated at Sehun’s next sentence. “Have you been playing at gigs around town? You’re a guitarist... right?”

Chanyeol nods as he stretches the muscles in his arms. “Yeah, my friends and I have a band and all. Sometimes we play at some events. Pretty obscure places though and we only go really randomly.” He brushes his hair back with his fingers. “I’m surprised you saw me. I thought you might’ve remembered me from somewhere else.”

Sehun has a frown on his face at the statement. “Why would I remember you from another place? You’re not from our school, are you?” The taller boy smiles at him, then walks up till he’s practically in Sehun’s face.

“No, I’m not from the same school as you and Jongin,” Chanyeol shrugs. “But then again we all share something very similar,” he brings his hands up in front of Sehun’s face and lets strings of fire form between his fingers, before he starts playing with it as if it’s a novel way to play Cat’s Cradle. The sharp intake of Sehun’s breath and the widening of his eyes are the only indication that he’s surprised; his lips are pressed into a thin line.

“Whoa! Do you know magic too?!” Sehun suddenly exclaims, eyes lighting up like a child entering a candy store. Junmyeon wanted to bang his head against the wall very, very hard. Jongin, on the other hand, had no qualms snickering into his hand as Chanyeol’s face fell, and the strings of fire dissolved into thin air.

“I’m sure as hell _not_ a freaking magician! Jongin’s right; what _is_ your problem?” Chanyeol huffs, feeling incensed that his abilities were likened to that of a magic trick. It had taken him ages, and he was really proud that he could manipulate his flames like that without burning himself. Sehun blinks at him, then looks towards Junmyeon.

“What magic can _you_ do?” He asks, curious. It doesn’t show on his face, but Sehun is actually pretty excited. He’s always loved magic and seeing three new tricks in one day would be an awesome treat.

The older boy sighs in resignation before he conjures up a few small globes of water in both hands, throwing them up in the air and then juggling them as he walks closer. He squats in front of Sehun, holding down the younger boy’s gaze. “You don’t remember anything at all, do you?” Junmyeon asks several moments later, tone gentle, and he lets the globes disintegrate back into thin air. He figures that it would be counter-productive to intimidate Sehun at such an early stage, and decided to approach him in a different manner.

“You guys are making me feel seriously confused. Why are you talking to me as though I’m an amnesiac?” Sehun questions, flustered. Surely this wasn’t an initiation ritual from the seniors of the company?

“Well, in a way, you kind of are.” Jongin quips, and gets poked in the ribs by Junmyeon’s none-too-gentle elbow. The younger boy makes puppy eyes at him, which Junmyeon ignores in this instance to focus on Sehun.

Junmyeon gently holds Sehun by his shoulders, but not before signalling Chanyeol to shut the windows. “Do you think that the room is too stuffy right now?” Sehun raises an eyebrow, but nods hesitantly in response to Junmyeon’s question. “Good, now close your eyes and focus. Try and imagine how it feels to have a soft breeze blowing in your face.”

Sehun stares at Junmyeon for a second, then hesitantly closes his eyes. He cracks open one eye momentarily. “You’re not going to like, suddenly drench me with a bucket of water right?” Junmyeon shakes his head, laughing softly while Jongin mutters something under his breath like “You have no idea how much I want to do that right now,” and Sehun closes his eyes again, breathing in slowly while focusing on Junmyeon’s voice.

“Can you feel the movement of the air against your face? It’s very subtle right now, but let that feeling grow slowly, a bit stronger.”

Behind them, Chanyeol has to drag Jongin away before he can start blowing (and possibly not so accidentally spitting) onto Sehun’s face to emulate the wind.

“Are you blowing air in my face just to prank me?” Sehun queries, as though he could read Jongin’s thoughts, although his eyes remained shut. Chanyeol eyes Jongin – and his shadow – suspiciously, to which the latter mouthed an exasperated ‘what?!’ The younger boy scowls inwardly; his hyungs knew his mischievous ways too well by now. _Dangit, busted even before I could begin!_

Junmyeon shakes his head disapprovingly at Jongin as he said, “No one can hold their breaths for such a long time, Sehun-ssi. Why don’t you open your eyes again this time and see for yourself if you can still feel it?”

Sehun does as he was told. “No, I don’t feel it.”

“Don’t break your concentration. Of course you won’t be able to feel it when you’re distracted, Sehun-ssi,” Chanyeol chips in. “Concentrate on the breeze being a bit stronger this time, as if it could blow your bangs upwards. That way you can be sure that you’re not imagining it, and that we aren’t blowing air at you.”

The tall, pale boy frowns in concentration, imagining a stronger breeze than before, as if it’s lifting his bangs upwards. His eyes widen in tandem as the phenomenon occurs, not quite able to believe that _he_ was the one causing this to happen. “Oh my _God_.” Sehun gasps. “Am I really the one creating this breeze?”

Junmyeon’s expressions were full of appreciation of Sehun’s abilities. “Wow, you managed to recall your powers and control them faster than any one of us in this room,” he praises, causing Jongin to pout in response.

“My powers?” Sehun echoes as the breeze dies down, his concentration having been disturbed. The other three look at each other, wondering how to break it to him and _not_ sound like they are crazy at the same time.

“How should I put this...” Jongin begins, entering his serious mode for the first time that day. “In simple terms, you’re one of _us_ ,” he says, gesturing towards himself, Junmyeon, and Chanyeol. Sehun’s frown remains unwavering.

“Of course I’m one of you. We’re all humans, aren’t we? Unless...” The youngest boy trails off, before automatically sliding backwards in horror. Chanyeol grins impishly, deciding to add oil to the proverbial fire.

“Well....right now technically we are? Not so sure if you would refer to us as aliens back _then_ though,” he inclines his head at Jongin and Junmyeon. “Say, what do you think?”

Jongin gets embroiled in Chanyeol’s mischievous mood in no time at all, the same impish grin appearing on his lips. “I don’t think normal humans would be able to do things like this...” He shrugs, and as if to prove his point, phases out and reappears at the far corner of the room, leaning against the wall with a smirk on his face. “Or this.” He phases again and stands close to Sehun’s shadow, watching the other boy turn around to watch him before he deliberately, but gently steps onto the region that would be Sehun’s stomach. The other boy’s eyes grow wider when he feels a sudden pressure at his stomach, and stares in abject horror at Jongin, who lifts his foot off, and phases away again, this time to end up next to Junmyeon.

“Now before you call us ‘freaks’-” Chanyeol warns. “-do bear in mind that you’re indeed one of us. Choose your words wisely.”

Junmyeon playfully shoves at Chanyeol and Jongin at this point of time, flashing a disapproving look at the playful pair. “Stop freaking him out even more than he already is, guys. Well, Sehun, I guess you're going to have to stick with us until we make sure that you remember what you're supposed to remember, whether you like it or not."

Behind Junmyeon, Jongin snorts in an effort to control his laughter – so who’s the evil one now? Sehun isn’t exactly sure why exactly he feels like crying at this point when he sees the three of them with such _wide, inviting smiles_.

_What on earth have I gotten myself into now?_

 

\---

 

In another room, far from the agency, two men sat in a dark room, lit only by the brightness of the numerous TV screens as they observed the four boys mess around with their powers in that same training room. One of the men fidgeted continuously in his seat, only stopping when his companion placed a hand on his shoulder and gave it a firm squeeze.

“So... there’s four of them who have congregated together now. Another eight more to go...” The first man trails off, as he watches Junmyeon throw a globe of water at Chanyeol on the screen, who vaporises it with a steady flame.

“How long do you think it will take for all of them to gather?” The second asks, a malicious, scheming smile playing on his lips, his voice surprisingly contrasting with the look on his face.

“Not very long now.” A new voice joins them from behind, pulling both their attentions to another one of their friends. “Four of them have banded up together for now, but there are three more lurking around in the company.” He continues, pointing to three other screens. Each of the screens shows the image of three other boys doing various activities – dancing, studying in a classroom, and eating.

“Shall we speed things up a little? I’m getting really impatient over here,” the first man says again.

“Relax,” the newcomer says. “We’ve already waited for this long, and created so many groups in preparation for them that it’s just a matter of time before they all come together, and then we can do as we wish.”

“I can’t wait till I get my hands on them, and _crush_ them into pieces.” The first man flexes his fingers into a fist, nails digging deep into the palms of his hands, relishing in the feel of the blood that drew from the cuts. He licks at the cuts idly, while the second man rolled his eyes, pulling a handkerchief from the pocket of his suit, then wiping at the cuts before bandaging it haphazardly.

“Do try not to injure yourself unnecessarily.” The second man chastises him, shaking his head. “It’s going to be a hassle to take care of things if you do.” The first man grabs at his shirt cuffs and jacket suddenly. “We’ll do it properly so that when the time comes, nothing is left. _Nothing!_ ” His sentence ends in a manic cackle and the third man shakes his head sadly.

“Back then he was the best...but look at him now.’

“I don’t blame him, especially not after everything that had happened.” The second man speaks up, while prying the first man’s fingers from his clothes. “You know that’s exactly why he is the way he is now.”

“And you’re dedicating most of your time to take care of him instead of being with... well, you know who I’m referring to,” comes the amused reply, which was accompanied by a nonchalant shrug.

“I’m more worried about this guy over here. You know that he might very likely jump off a cliff or something if nobody was around to look after him.”

The newcomer gives the second man a pat on his back, before turning around and taking his leave. “Good luck with keeping him in line until we can make our move, then. You’re doing a fine job.” The second man nods, interlocking his fingers with the first man’s to stop him from pulling at his clothes again.

He turns back to the TV screens again, watching as the four boys shut the lights and leave the room.

_Soon_ , he promises himself, _soon_.

 


	8. {7} coded in ice

Minseok chokes on the burger in his hands for the third time that afternoon. He’s not usually this clumsy with food, but that creepy feeling crawling down the length of his spine was _seriously_ distracting. He’s fairly certain that the table of four boys just behind and off to the right of his are actually _watching his every move_ , but when he turns around, all of them are chatting and eating their food instead.

He stuffs the last bit of the burger into his mouth, wiping his hands clean with the serviette before picking out his phone from his pocket. He holds the electronic device up high and slumps into his seat, pretending that he was taking a photo of himself (it was a common occurrence in the company) when in fact, he was using the reversed camera to spy on the quartet behind him.

True enough, the moment they thought that Minseok’s attention was invested somewhere else, the four pairs of eyes zoomed in on him once again. What the _hell_. He watches as they whispered excitedly amongst themselves, arms flinging and all but pointing in his direction. What on earth was going on? Maybe there was some rumour about him that he didn’t know about, which was why they were so interested in him. Then again, Minseok has heard a lot about some trainees ganging up and bullying other trainees. Surely he’s not their target this time? He has only been in the company for a couple of months, and had just recently switched classes up to the advanced level, which is where he recognised the quartet from.

Oh dear.

Once he had caught on to the unsettling reality, Minseok all but throws the remainder of his belongings into his backpack, and takes his leave from the cafeteria. From the corner of his eye, he could see the quartet getting up to follow him at a slower pace. The one with the tannest skin out of the whole group seemed to be the most impatient, gesturing to the others to _come on already!_

Minseok promptly breaks into a fast jog down the hallways, ignoring the odd stares that the other trainees were sending him. He throws himself around a random corner, not really caring that he had no flipping idea where he was, and entered through the doors of the first room he finds. Out of exhaustion from his practice and the nervousness from being chased down, Minseok collapses onto the carpeted floor, breathing heavily, thanking the Gods above that he had somehow managed to shake off the group of trainees with dubious intentions. Once he had calmed down considerably, Minseok found his eyelids slowly drooping to a close. He figures that a short nap wouldn’t hurt.

He wakes up to the sound of someone humming, and it sounds really nice. He looks up with sleepy eyes and spots a pair of long legs dancing, but his eyes quickly shoot open when he finds that it’s one of the quartet that had been staring at him earlier. _Crap_! Minseok thinks, panicking. _How do I get out of here without him noticing me?!_ The problem is, the boy’s dancing so close to the door, and that is the only exit out of the room.

Just as Minseok decided that he should pretend that he was still asleep, dancer boy spins around and catches him in a seated position. “Oh, I’m sorry, did I wake you? This was the only training room that wasn’t occupied so I tried to be as quiet as possible and- I’m sorry.” The boy stutters and apologises with a respectful bow, of which Minseok waves off with a flustered expression on his face.

“No, it’s my fault for falling asleep on the floor. With that being said, I guess I’ll just get out of your hair now and leave you to it!” Minseok laughs weakly as he gets up from the ground and dusts himself off, trying to make a dash for it. He is mildly shocked when he finds that the other boy just waves him off with a smile, “See you around then,” and makes no move to stop him.

When he opens the door, he sighs to himself. It’s no wonder that the other boy let him off so easily. The remaining trio are right outside the door, sitting against the wall in the corridor, and they look up at him when he appears. The one Minseok recognises as Jongin smiles impishly at him.

“Going somewhere?” He asks, tilting his head to the side as he bit his thumb. Minseok gulps.

“Why do you look so terrified? We’re not going to do anything to you, Minseok hyung.” Another person with porcelain white skin quips, the innocence reflected in his eyes. Minseok didn’t know whether he should believe in this boy; he had seen him before, and heard that he intends to pursue acting in the future.

And then something clicks in his mind. “Wait... hyung?” Minseok splutters, confused. “Did you just call me Minseok hyung?”

“‘s’right, hyung! Hyung hyung hyung hyung hyung~” The tallest one sing-songs, and Minseok stares at him oddly. He knew the stress of being a trainee took its toll on all of them, but this one seemed to really take the cake.

“Are you smoking weed or something?” Minseok finds himself asking, clamping his mouth shut moments later. Older than them in terms of age or not, they were still considered as seniors in the company, and he had to adhere to certain rules.

A chuckle from behind him makes Minseok glance back, and he finds the pale boy leaning lazily against the door frame of the training room.

“Sorry, you’ll have to excuse Chanyeol hyung. I think he had too much Coke to drink earlier and he’s on a bit of a sugar high. It’s pretty normal, really.” He nods his head towards ‘Chanyeol’, who is continuing to bop his head in place and sing-songing to himself, “hyung hyung hyung hyung hyung hyung hyung hyung hyung~”.

Minseok blinks at the sight and shakes his head, then turned back to face the other more... normal trainees. “Well...since I can’t seem to stop you from following me...can I just ask why is it that you’ve all been staring and following my every move? It’s rather unnerving, with four pairs of eyes on you while you’re trying to finish your burger, you know.” The two more normal ones stare at him sheepishly, while the one standing behind him drawls, “I _told_ you he could tell that we were watching him.”

“Blame Chanyeol hyung for being too loud!” Jongin objects. That seems to snap the tallest one out of his sing-songing for a moment.

“I wouldn’t have been so loud if you hadn’t stolen my food, Jongin.” He stares accusingly at the other boy who sticks out his tongue at him.

“Will you two stop acting like kids for a moment? I can’t understand how I’m only a year older than you,” the fair-skinned one frowns at the trainee called Chanyeol before turning to the other called Jongin. “And you, you’re like two split personalities in one, Jongin. Your image when you’re performing is completely different from how you are out of the practice room.”

“But hyuuuung~~” Both of them whine at once, as if used to this behaviour from the older boy, who puts an end to it quickly by bopping them both on the head. Minseok can hear the quiet snicker behind him.

“So um, guys, about my question...?” Minseok tries again. He half considers casually walking away from the scene while the trio in front of him were preoccupied with their bickering, but the oldest one of the lot answers him.

“Well, actually, there’s something that we find familiar about you, and want to make sure of.” Minseok tilts his head slightly, confused at what the other boy is saying.

“I’m pretty sure that’s because you’ve been seeing me around in practices, no?”

“That’s not it,” the presumed leader of the quartet shakes his head. He was about to say something, when Jongin leans in to whisper something in his ear. The older boy frowns, then puts forth the weirdest request Minseok has ever heard. “Minseok hyung, could you please tilt your head up and look towards your right? I need to ascertain something.”

Minseok obliges to the request, and the four of them gasp in response, making Minseok eye them suspiciously again. “Is there something wrong?”

“Your neck,” Chanyeol begins with a serious expression on his face. “The snowflake tattoo is visible.”

At the mention of the snowflake tattoo, Minseok’s hand flies up to cover it. His eyes widen in surprise. “How- I thought I was the only one who could see this mark!” He exclaims, remembering about the many times he had tried to remove the snowflake-shaped tattoo which had appeared out of the blue on his neck. Minseok had attempted to hide it from view with a scarf (in the middle of summer, no less) at first, terrified that his parents would beat him to death for getting a tattoo – even though Minseok honestly had no idea how or when he had it inked on him. But when he removed the scarf with his shaky hands one day, after his parents had demanded for him to do so, and he realised that no one else but him could see the mark.

Minseok had since left the tattoo alone, until these trainees decided to remind him about it.

“Hyung, don’t freak out.” Dancer boy said in a low voice; Minseok notices him throwing cautious glances at their surroundings. “You evidently don’t have your memories yet, but we need to know just one more thing. Have you discovered your ability to freeze things?”

The oldest boy pales considerably at this. How is it that these people knew what he could do when he himself had only found out about it less than a year ago? The one named Jongin eyes him knowingly, calling him out on it. “You know exactly what we’re talking about, don’t you, hyung?”

“I- How did you know?”

“Your tattoo tells us a million things. It’s only consolidated when you’ve been using your powers frequently. Look.” Jongin explains, then turns around and lifts some of his hair up to reveal the skin on the back of his neck. Another tattoo in a different shape stares back up at Minseok, and he turns towards the other trainees with a bewildered look. Dancer boy lowers the collar of his shirt to reveal his mark over his shoulder blade.

The leader of the group raises his hands defensively. “Oh no, I’m not going to strip in the middle of the corridor.” He eyes the tallest boy, who is fiddling with the buckle of his belt. “And neither are _you_ , Park Chanyeol! What do you think you’re doing?!”

“It’s sitting right over my hip bone, Junmyeon hyung. I’m just loosening my belt to show him.” Chanyeol says exasperatedly, the tips of his rather prominent ears flushing in a deep shade of red. Minseok puts a stop to Chanyeol’s fumbling with his belt when he raises his hands.

“Thanks, but I’d rather people _not_ get the wrong idea if someone suddenly decides to walk into this corridor.” Junmyeon nods at the older boy’s words - not two seconds later, someone indeed _does_ walk into the corridor, and gives all five of them weird looks before passing by. They watch until he leaves the corridor before the tenseness in the quintet leaves their muscles.

A pregnant pause ensues, before Minseok turns back to them with his eyes narrowed. “So do you guys actually have plans in telling me _why_ you’re able to see this tattoo, and how did you find out about my... ability to freeze things?” He asks suspiciously.

“Well, you can see ours too, can’t you? Just like you, we’ve got certain abilities too.” Jongin smirks at Minseok from his spot on the floor. “Don’t you want to find out what they are?”

“You do?” Minseok is intrigued at the possibilities, but also a bit wary. “You mean you’re not out to blackmail me or something?”

Chanyeol bursts out laughing at the question, while Junmyeon merely looked at Minseok in amusement, lips quivering in an attempt to hold in his own laughter. “Why in heaven’s name would we do that, Minseok hyung?” The latter asks. The oldest boy can feel his cheeks heating up slightly in embarrassment. “Well, you know, there’s rumours about how some of the seniors have these hazing rituals for the new trainees who come in and all I just thought....”

Jongin and Junmyeon look at him quite seriously as he trails off. “Hyung, you don’t have to worry about that from us. We’ve been victims of such bullying as well, and we definitely won’t walk down that same path. It’s disgusting.” Jongin mutters darkly, averting his gaze as he recalled some bitter memories. Chanyeol nods in agreement, and Minseok is surprised to see that the easy-going boy’s hands hand balled up into fists at his side. Dancer boy behind Minseok is curiously quiet. He’s suddenly thankful that he has not experienced such incidents yet, though he wondered what each of them had to go through before making it this far.

“Well...maybe you can tell me all about your abilities then.” Minseok says, clearing his throat in an attempt to alleviate the slightly gloomy atmosphere. “And why you insist that I don’t have my memories.” He smiles as he holds a hand out to Junmyeon, who takes a hold of his firm grip, shaking his hand before pulling himself upright.

“It’s a deal, hyung!”

 

\-----

 

Minseok’s eyes were wide as he watched the four younger boys demonstrate their abilities to him. His own ability to freeze things had amazed him when he had first found out about his power, but seeing Jongin teleport and manipulate shadows, Sehun blowing gusts of wind from out of nowhere, Chanyeol conjure fire in the palm of his hands and Junmyeon lashing out into thin air with a lethal water whip is mind-boggling.

“So... _wait_. What did you say we were supposed to be again?” Minseok blinks in a confused manner, turning towards Sehun who was seated next to him. Sure, he has heard of aliens and the sort while he was in elementary school, but _actually_ being one himself? This must be some kind of joke. He’s sure of it.

“We’re guardians. Of what used to be EXO Planet.” Sehun explains patiently. “The planet had deteriorated to the point where we had to leave, and Jongin-hyung – _Kai_ and Luhan hyung actually – managed to pinpoint this planet as a probable place where the Tree of Life could be nurtured and regrown once again. But when we were in the midst of getting here, something happened, and we got split up, and somehow our souls were reborn into human bodies or something. We’re not quite sure where the others are, or what exactly happened, but right now it seems as though all of us are slowly gravitating towards this agency, so right now we’re just waiting for everyone else to show up so we can put things together.”

“There’s twelve of us in total?” Minseok questions, earning four synchronous nods in response. His face scrunches up in deep thought. “Assuming what you’re saying is true, there’s seven other ‘guardians’ lurking in god-knows-where in the world. How long are we supposed to wait for the rest to appear, and how do we know if they would show up at all?”

“Well, there’s at least another one who’s already here in the agency with us – Wu Yifan, whom we know better as Kris hyung, but getting him to talk to us is...” Chanyeol trails off sheepishly and Jongin fills in the rest.

“Simply put, he’s being a bitch and a pain in the ass.” The younger boy huffs indignantly. It takes Minseok one look at him to guess that Jongin had been jilted by this Kris person before. “I mean, seriously, he should at least have the courtesy to acknowledge it when someone’s trying to talk to him. Instead, he gives this weird constipated look and just walks off.”

“He might feel apprehensive about talking to us because he’s not familiar with the Korean language, you know.” Junmyeon points out wryly.

Jongin continues to scowl. “Still! ...Just wait until we find Luhan. He’ll know how to handle Kris.” The younger boy brightens up at the mention of the Seer. “Then he’ll have no choice but to be bitched around by someone who is actually older than him!” Jongin is close to cackling at this point while Sehun rolls his eyes and Chanyeol hides his snicker behind a large hand.

“Well Lay might actually be able to handle him too. He was always around Kris back on EXO Planet, wasn’t he?” Minseok blurts out mindlessly, only to raise an eyebrow at the other four guardians when the room fell uncannily silent. “What? Did I say something wrong?”

“I thought you said you didn’t remember anything!” Jongin exclaims. “But you mentioned Lay and Kris being together on EXO Planet!”

“I don’t-” Minseok defends himself, and does a double take a mere second later. “Oh. _Oh._ ”

“Hey, that’s not fair-” Sehun starts with a whine. “Why does Minseok hyung’s memories come back to him so effortlessly when I had to go through so much pain?” Chanyeol slings an arm around the younger boy’s shoulder in a comforting manner, and teases him.

“Well, if you wanted, maybe you can have Jongin land on you just like how he ended up on top of Junmyeon hyung last time.” The two who were mentioned flushes a deep shade of red at the memory, while Sehun looks at them with a curious glint in his eyes. “Would that actually help jog my memories?” The youngest plays along with the tallest boy’s playful words.

“Now, Sehun, don’t start getting strange ideas.” Jongin warns, backing away as the taller boy advances on him with a sly grin. When Sehun got too close to him, Jongin immediately teleported out of range, causing the other boys to laugh.

Sehun runs a hand through his hair and whirled around, grinning from ear to ear at Jongin’s reaction. “Hyung, even though we have not found Luhan hyung, I don’t really have a death wish just yet,” he says, though he shudders when he felt someone trying to nudge into his consciousness. It’s an unfamiliar sensation to him – at least in this lifetime of his – but before Sehun could probe further into it, the feeling has dissipated without a trace. He frowns a bit, then decided that it was only a figment of his imagination.

Junmyeon’s eyes are sharp, and catches Sehun’s faint shiver regardless. “Sehun-ah, is something wrong?” The youngest smiles faintly at him, but waves it off. “It’s ok hyung, I just thought that someone was nudging at my mind like Luhan hyung used to do back on EXO Planet, but it’s gone now.” When Junmyeon’s eyes narrow further at him, Sehun stresses on his words again. “ _Really_ , hyung. It was probably just my imagination.”

Jongin bites his thumb, considering the possibility. “We don’t know if Luhan has regained his powers or not, but we can’t forget that last time there was that _something_ that managed to control both Kris hyung and Chanyeol hyung.” He looks around the room at the rest of the boys seriously, meeting each of their eyes individually, trying to imbue with his eyes the grave importance of words.

“If _anyone_ feels that sensation of getting their mind probed, or consciousness nudged, we have to let the others know straightaway. We still don’t know where the Tree of Life has been hidden away; I can feel that it’s here in Korea, but _where_ exactly, we probably can only find out after we meet up with Luhan and the rest of the guardians. There are too many things that we still don’t know, like the reasons behind our memories and powers returning to us when we probably wouldn’t have much use for it to begin with. I don’t like the idea of having someone unknown probing our minds, either.” Everyone nods in agreement. The atmosphere of the room suddenly becomes suffocated with anxiety.

“Chanyeol, do you really not remember what went wrong while we were still on EXO Planet?” Minseok queries, his concerned gaze meeting the younger male’s. Chanyeol heaves a sigh.

“A large part of my memories are still rather hazy, but oddly, that specific part of how Kris hyung and I came to be controlled is completely blanked out.” The fire guardian explains, chewing on his lower lip in frustration. “It feels like someone’s deliberately preventing me from accessing those memories.”

It is a mystery to all the guardians how there could be someone powerful enough to block off both Chanyeol and Kris from Luhan, and then block out their memories of how they were controlled. The mere thought that the same person could still be out there worries Jongin.

“In any case, we’ll need to be extra vigilant about every single thing that occurs around us,” Junmyeon begins. “Including any changes in our personalities or actions. We’ll need to put a stop to this before things becomes irreversible, like how it did in the past.”

“How should we go about that?” Minseok sits down cross-legged on the polished wooden floor, patting the ground, and the other boys follow suit. “Should we have a certain code or something that we change randomly? Or certain actions that we perform when we see each other?”

“That’s a good idea!” Jongin agrees easily, grinning excitedly. “Does anyone have anything in mind?”

“I’ve got one!” Chanyeol leaps up from his spot on the floor, and jumps a series of weird jigs before finishing off with a spin and a ‘tadah!’ flourish. The four boys who are still on the floor blink at him with wide eyes.

“Nuh-uh.” Sehun was the first one to react to that with horror-stricken eyes. “There’s _no way in hell_ I’m going to do that, hyung. No.” Junmyeon laughs, eyes crinkling with mirth at Sehun’s reaction and Chanyeol’s crestfallen pout.

“Well, maybe we can modify it a bit instead of doing the full set of jumps. I like the spin at the end, but what about this?” Junmyeon starts off with the first set of jumps like Chanyeol did, then allows his wrist to rotate once in a circle, ending up with his forefinger pointing at Chanyeol after he does a full body spin.

“That’s pretty good, hyung, but we might end up crashing into people if we do that full body spin in the middle of a crowded hallway and you know the kinds of dirty looks we’ll get.” Jongin points out. “Maybe something a bit simpler?” The younger boy gets up from his spot and tries out a few moves, frowning slightly, until he finds one that he thinks fits.

“What about this?” He sweeps both hands first over his left side of his head, then the right side, smirking all the while, doing a hip roll with the opposing side to each action. Sehun has his eyes narrowed at the older boy.

“Does it come with the smirk too?” He deadpans.

“Of course!”

The other trainees in give them weird looks for the next two and a half weeks when they use that as their code – and Minseok _swears_ that some of the girl trainees are trying to muffle their fangirl-ish squealing when it happens – until they change it to Chanyeol’s jumping one – and after that most people try to give them a wide berth, especially when the tallest boy’s overenthusiastic flailing ends up with him toppling backwards and almost flattening one of the younger and smaller trainee.

In the end, they merely settled for a simple worded code, because Jongin protested about how ridiculous everything looks and how impossible it was to flail around when they were already half-dead from practice.

They fail to notice the passing looks and secretive smile that another trainee, Zhang Yixing has on his face whenever he sees them.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ** the movement where they're supposed to sweep their hands on either side of their heads then follow it up with a hip roll = SJ D&E's Oppa Oppa dance move. Original, we know.


	9. {8} mind games

Luhan taps a finger on the mouse impatiently as he waits for the video to load. It was all over the internet that the new DBSK music video would be released that night, but his stupid internet connection chose this time to refuse cooperating with him. It feels like a million years has passed him by before the bar finally loads completely, and he grins boyishly; 8-minutes-plus of a new wonderful DBSK video was just what he needed after the gruelling exams he’s been having all week.

He finds himself laughing and snorting over his idols at the start of the video. Yunho and Yuchun were acting like complete dorks, a large contrast from their usually cool appearances on stage and in their title songs’ videos. The props and clothes they were using merely helps to add to his increasingly loud laughter. This is definitely _the_ cure to his exam stress, alright.

Midway through the video, Luhan shoots up in attention, his eyes flying wide open and the last bit of sleepiness leaving him. _No way_ , he gasps, unable to bring himself to believe in what he’s seeing. Surely it was only his mind playing tricks on him through the thick blanket of drowsiness? He pulls back the cursor and replays that part again, squinting at the monitor screen hard. He pauses at the moment where the boy in the red hoodie is wiping his face, and Luhan swallows hard as he slumps back against his chair.

There’s no doubt about it. Although the boy looked much younger than he remembered him to be (well, he was sure they _all_ were), it was that same boy who made an appearance in his recurring dreams. _Kai_. The boy’s name rolls around his mouth easily, so familiar even though he has never met him in real life before. The dreams have become such a constant to him, so much a part of his life that it never occurred to him that the people he had seen in his dreams would actually _exist_. Seeing Kai right now on his computer screen is living proof. He clicks on the ‘play’ button and resumes watching the video, feeling even more confused when two other familiar faces showed up. _Suho and Chanyeol,_ his mind reminds him, and Luhan promptly closes his browser when he feels his dinner rise in his throat.

Dragging himself all the way to his bed, Luhan plops down on it and stares at the ceiling above him. He couldn’t wrap his head around the fact that not one, but _three_ people from his dreams have made an appearance in his idols’ music video. He’s beginning to doubt whether this was a coincidence, yet he couldn’t fathom _how_ or _why_ the trio were in SM Entertainment. Throwing his arm up to cover his eyes, he chews on his lip lightly, wondering if the curiosity of seeing who these people are would give him the determination to go to another audition again. He hasn’t been to another one since he failed the one at JYP Entertainment almost a year ago, and to be quite honest, his self-confidence took quite the beating after his embarrassing exit.

Luhan spends that night tossing and turning in bed, and doesn’t notice the slight sense of someone probing his consciousness delicately when he’s finally falling into the depths of sleep close to dawn.

 

\---

 

Luhan fidgets with the hem of his shirt the next morning, eyeing his mother who was busying herself with preparing breakfast in the kitchen. He had climbed out of bed that morning with a renewed determination to participate in another audition in Korea, though he wasn’t sure whether his parents would approve of it. They hadn’t been in the nicest of moods when they found out about his audition stint with JYP, of which he had skipped school to participate in. He had already told his parents about his plans to go to Korea to study the language, and the forms had all been submitted and he had received his acceptance letter almost a month ago.

Luhan had run his fingers all over the page that was his study visa after he had gotten it, somewhat still in a state of disbelief that he would finally get to the country he had long been wanting to go to, and to be able to study there for two years (and maybe even attend some of DBSK concerts if he was lucky enough) was a dream come true.

Now, he had to factor in the possibility of going to audition for SM Entertainment as well, because not knowing about the identities of the people in his dreams might just drive him crazy. He knew that it might be a long shot, but Luhan felt the need to try. If he couldn’t get into the company... well, he could always hang around its vicinity, couldn’t he? It’s not something odd, after all, to have fans of the idol groups loitering near the company, just to catch a glimpse of their favourites.

“Mum,” He calls out, as she finishes ladling the vegetables onto a plate from the saucepan, and his mother turns around to look at him. “There’s something I need to talk to you about.”

“What is it, Han? Can’t this wait until I’m done cooking?” She raises an eyebrow.

“I’ll be quick.” He promises, then gulps hard. “Do you... would you get mad if I said I wanted to audition again...?” Luhan flashes a stiff grin at her, as he fiddles with his fingers behind his back. The expression freezes on his face as he sees her back straighten, and he waits there in silence until she finishes cooking, another 10 minutes later.

Luhan stands in attention when her piercing gaze is trained on him. Sensing his mother’s immense disappointment in him, he felt the blood leave his face, but kept his inner feelings under tight wraps. “What have your father and I told you before?” His mother begins, slowly and evenly. Luhan swallows hard around the dry lump in his throat and breathes in just as slowly.

“That you don’t want me pursuing such silly dreams.” He whispers, dejected.

“So you understood us the first time,” she states bluntly, as she rests her hands on her hips. “Why are you asking me this again?” Luhan can see the video of Kai and Chanyeol and Suho practising their dance moves in the DBSK music video as it plays in his mind again; faces tired but determined, bodies exhausted but the flow, the amount of _passion_ he can see reflected in their every move is what makes his next words to his mother determined. He can do this. He _will_ do this.

“Because I need to try, just one more time to know, to make sure that it really, truly isn’t meant for me. If I go this time and I don’t make it then I’ll. I’ll quit.” Luhan meets his mother’s gaze, eyes firm and determined.

“Why are you so obsessed over this whole celebrity thing anyway? Fine, you might get your big break by chance, and then what? Can you ensure that your popularity would last long enough to feed yourself for the rest of your life?” His mother retorts, raising her voice a little. Luhan can see how frustrated she was with his stubbornness (that quality came from her, anyway), but he isn’t going to back down from his decision. Instead, he goes up to her, holds her hands in his and meets her eyes as he speaks.

“Mama, do you remember when you used to tell me about what it felt like when you first started writing? That rush of excitement, the energy that embodied you and how when you had a pen in your hand and paper at your disposal that the words would just flow like water and when you finished that you felt accomplished, that you felt whole?” Luhan’s mother nods slowly.

“That’s what this is for me mama. The feel of having everyone’s attention on me because of my acting, my singing, my dancing, that feeling of the energy from the people who are cheering me on, that’s what drives me for this, mama. Could you, maybe, just a little try, to understand how much this means to me that you can accept this decision that I’ve made?”

His mother is silent for a moment as she stares down at their hands, thinking for a long while. Finally, she sighs and pats his hands, pulling her only son into a tight hug.

“Alright, Luhan. Alright, if you think that your decision is right. Just this one more time.”

He hugs her back fiercely, smiling against the side of her head as he presses a kiss there. “Thank you, mum. _Thank you_.”

 

**

 

“I’ve found him!” An excited Jongmin bursts into the room where Songhyun is just having his cup of tea.

“Found who?” He arches an eyebrow at Jongmin before sipping at his tea slowly.

“Luhan, of course,” Jongmin says with a smirk on his face. “I managed to tap into his consciousness.”

Songhyun sighs in dismay as he places his cup on the side table. “What did you do this time? Didn’t Youngmin tell you not to act as you please?”

Jongmin waves him off. “I can’t wait any longer. Things are moving too slowly. Some _one_ has to speed things up a little, don’t you think?”

“Thank goodness we didn’t leave him in charge of the marketing section, otherwise it would have all crumbled well before now,” Songhyun mutters under his breath as he reaches forward for a biscuit from the table. The prickling sensation of needles in his mind is irritating, and he flicks a finger at Jongmin, who dodges the sofa that is suddenly sent flying in his direction. It hits the wall, denting the paint and causing it to crack and flake off onto the upholstery. “Stop that. It’s irritating.”

Jongmin laughs and plops onto the armchair, folding his arms behind his head as he observed Songhyun. “You’re too uptight, do you know that?”

Songhyun stares at him calmly. “Why yes, having to deal with you and then these sorry excuses for humans does that to me. _You_ , on the other hand don’t really need to do much except hang around here while the rest of us do the hard work.”

“Psh, details, details,” Jongmin waves it off flippantly as he reaches for a cookie, then frowns as the plate shifts away from him. “Hey, stop hogging all the good stuff to yourself!” He whines, looking up at Songhyun who happily pops a pastry into his mouth.

“Revenge is sweet.” Songhyun intones blandly, chewing calmly even as Jongmin sends more daggers at his mind, which Songhyun blocks easily. He gives up after several tries.

“So I was thinking,” Jongmin begins, earning a look of mock surprise from Songhyun. He narrows his eyes at the latter. “Why are you staring at me like that?”

“Nothing, it seems like you haven’t been using your brain in a long while,” Songhyun shrugs, blocking yet another attempt from Jongmin to infiltrate his mind. “What are you scheming this time?”

“I guess you could say that this is a trigger to set our plans in motion,” Jongmin says, pretending as though he hasn’t been doing anything at all, another smirk finding its way to his lips. “It’s time for your subordinates to search for someone new.”

Songhyun sighs in resignation. “I’ll do it myself so you can stop your whining already. I know how bad you can get, if it isn’t done according to how _you_ want it to be done.”

“You know, I feel like kissing you smack on the mouth right about now.” The other man quips with a mischievous smile.

“Spare me.” Songhyun says dryly before dusting off the crumbs from his self and gets up to leave. He pats Jongmin’s head in a patronising manner and the other man scowls hard. “And try not to go _too_ crazy.”

He manages to close the door in time just before the cup that Jongmin throws impacts with the doorframe, and Songhyun smiles to himself triumphantly, humming as he exits the mansion.

 

**

 

Luhan stares around in awe as he walked down the streets of Myeongdong. Despite having been there before, he never really took in the sights around him because he was too preoccupied with his audition with JYP. The last time he’d been there, it had been a flurry of three days because that was the only time he could afford, what with school and his parents. There had been no time to enjoy the countless sights and the heartbeat of Seoul, but now that he had gotten a couple of months into his course and had made friends, he finally had some time to appreciate the sights around him.

Student life at Yonsei, as he had learned, was rather enjoyable. There were many of his fellow countrymen in the university as well, so it wasn’t that difficult to adapt to his life in Korea. His lecturers were friendly and willing to explain the more difficult parts of the language, and Luhan found himself being able to speak conversational Korean fairly well under their tutelage.

As for his primary goal in coming to Korea... that wasn’t going too well. Luhan was devastated to hear that SM Entertainment’s first-round auditions have ended a short while before he had arrived in Korea, and he would have to wait for a long period of time before another audition would open up. He can’t possibly walk right into the company and submit his application form either. Hanging around the company’s main building in Apgujeong was, as he had learned, futile. With a large crowd of people lingering around on a daily basis (Luhan caught wind that Super Junior’s comeback was coming soon, and the group members were frequenting the area), it was almost impossible to spot the trainees who walked about.

The first time he had seen the large number of fan girls there, his eyes nearly popped out of his head. He had absolutely no idea that there were fans who would be so diligent as to be there every day, at the same time, just to catch a glimpse of their idols. Once, one of the girls had looked at him and asked if he had auditioned to be a trainee because of his doll-like complexion, and he had laughed it off in good humour. The irony of being part of the crowd that day because he was trying to get information about the audition (and to catch a glimpse of Kai, Suho, or Chanyeol) is not lost on him.  

One week later, he gave up on waiting under the pressure from his classmates, albeit reluctantly. _If they don’t show up by the end of the week, then there’s no reason for you to hang around here any longer_ , they had said to him. Luhan suspects that the trainees have a far crazier schedule than the company’s established artists themselves, and was even tempted to camp out at the company at night just to test his theory, but the thought of having to wake up early for university deterred him from doing so.

Myeongdong is, in one word, busy. The hustle and bustle of the popular shopping district is always milling with people, no matter what time of day it is. Luhan finds that after 11am it is packed to the brim with people, with crowds mingling in all of the streets and each of the shops. He is amused to find that almost every street has at least two to three shops selling cosmetics, and smiles at the endorsement boards displaying the artistes that are currently endorsing that brand. He hopes that he’ll be famous enough one day to have his face displayed on one too.

It is as he is winding his way down the streets and laughing with his friends, finishing off his one foot ice cream cone that he gets at that famous vendor, when someone taps him on the shoulder, and he turns around to find a man dressed in what looks like an expensive suit smiling at him.

“Yes? May I help you?” Luhan stutters slightly in his attempt to speak in Korean. He thinks to himself that this might be how Baekhyun would look like if he were older, though he laughed it off inwardly. He’s being ridiculous.

“Good afternoon to you. My name is Jung Songhyun and I am a scout from SM Entertainment. I noticed that your features and the way you move are very striking, and wondered if you would be interested in auditioning for our company?” The man speaks at a moderate pace so that Luhan can follow it, and offers his name card to Luhan.

Luhan takes the card from him and looks at it, reading the Korean words off it slowly. _Jung Songhyun, Head of Trainee Department_ , he manages to decipher, and looks from the man to the card slowly. He’s not dreaming, is he? “But I thought the first round of auditions have ended?”

The man chuckles at his stunned expression. “That is for the general public, because we get such a large number of audtionees that we would rather have them all in a few batches every year. Even then, we are always scouting for candidates that we deem have the potential to be idols, such as yourself, and then we hold auditions at a separate timing for those.” He takes Luhan’s stunned silence for indecision and smiles benignly.

“Well, you don’t have to give me an answer right now. My number is there on my card, so you can call me if you’re interested and we can arrange a slot to fit you in. May I have your name?”

“Um, it’s Luhan.” He finally snaps out of his daze and manages to answer the man. The man makes a note of it, waves once and then disappears into the crowd before Luhan can say anything else. His friends surround him eagerly, giving him friendly punches; a few of them ask to see the name card.

“Wow, Luhan! You actually got scouted by an SME talent scout! How lucky is that? You should just call him straightaway and tell him you’ll go for the audition!” One of them says, and Luhan could only muster a spaced-out blink at him.

His friends who squint and look at the name card finally hand it back to him, appeased at whatever they have found there. “Well, it looks legit, so you should go ahead and audition! Sometimes there are people who pretend to be talent scouts, but the printing on this name card looks real enough, and there’s that tell-tale holographic mark when you tilt it just so that SME name cards make specially so that they won’t be forged.” Luhan nods speechlessly at them in thanks.

“Isn’t this the opportunity you’ve been waiting for?” Another of his friend chips in. “You should grab it before it slips away, Luhan.” He stares at the card as a shit-eating grin slowly grows on his face.

“ _Oh, HELL YEAH!_ ” He whoops suddenly, the excitement finally getting to him, and his friends celebrate with him as they dart through the streets.

It doesn’t occur to Luhan until much later that the _head of department_ himself had approached him.

 

**

 

_Well?_ The minute Songhyun has cleared the street where he met Luhan, he can hear Jongmin’s voice in his mind, prodding and insistent. _How did it go?_

_Perfect,_ he replies smugly, _the boy completely took the bait_. He can practically visualise Jongmin clapping his hands like a maniac in glee. _Can I push things forward even more now?_ The younger man demands.

_No._ Songhyun sternly puts his point across in his mind. _If you mess up anything else, I can’t guarantee that Youngmin won’t kill you off in an instant. We can only do so much to set things in motion. Now it’s up to the boy to handle things on his own._

Jongmin sniffs. _Hmph, he’s such a spoilsport._

_It’s for our own good._ Songhyun mentally rolls his eyes at Jongmin. _Would you rather have Woojung be in charge of everything else?_

Songhyun chuckles to himself when Jongmin scowls and gives him a mental flip-off. _Hell no. He’s so much more uptight than Youngmin would ever be,_ the younger man huffs. _Fine. I’ll lay off this for now._

_Wait till Sooman hears about this, he’s grown much too accustomed to the human way of life._ The sudden addition of Kwangyeol’s voice in their minds surprises them both.

_How did you-_ Songhyun begins roughly, only to receive a snicker from Kwangyeol.

_It’s been such a long while, yet you still can’t control your mind channels properly. Shame,_ the latter says smugly. _You have no idea how far off these children are from their true potential. It’s practically pathetic, the little parlour tricks they do. Really, would waiting just a few more years kill the both of you? Let them grow a little...so that when we actually crush them there would be so much more... satisfaction to it._

Songhyun has forgotten how vicious Kwangyeol can be, but the other man’s insidious chuckle reminds him of exactly why he fears him at times.

_Please tell that to Jongmin. He’s the only one out of all of us who can’t even sit still for a bloody second._ Songhyun retorts, wincing as said man sends a mental smack at him before he can put up a wall in time. Kwangyeol smirks, enjoying Songhyun’s discomfort. _Oh, by the way, Jisuk mentioned that there’s to be a meeting at the mansion later tonight, around 7pm or so. Do try not to be late,_ he drawls _, while Sooman might let it slide, Youngmin and Woojung would be...ever_ so _displeased._

The pair shudder at the thought of Youngmin and Woojung’s wraths being unleashed upon them, and nods solemnly in acknowledgement. _We won’t. Don’t worry._

Kwangyeol withdraws from both their minds with a mental wave of his fingers, leaving the other two men to wonder just how bad this meeting will be.

 

**

 

Luhan sucks in a deep breath as he looked up at the building that encompassed S.M. Entertainment’s Headquarters in Apgujeong. Somehow, standing right in front of the main entrance instead of being one of the many onlookers huddled around the area just outside where the cars were parked felt so different, even though it was only a short distance away.

That evening when he had gotten back to his dorm, he had called up Jung Songhyun, who had been glad to slot him in for an audition that was going to be held a week later, along with a few other potential trainees. Luhan was actually thankful that he had been practising and brushing up his singing and dancing skills in secret, even after he had failed the auditions with JYP. The hard work he had put into polishing his abilities could be utilised well now. At first he had been nervous about the whole thing, but as it got closer and closer to the audition date, he could feel the excitement bubbling up within him, and whether he met the other boys or not, this was a chance of a lifetime that he couldn’t pass up upon.

He finds himself being ushered into a room on the third floor by an overly-friendly lady, who told him he had to wait for his turn there. There were four other hopefuls already in the room, and Luhan acknowledges them with a smile; his smile faltered slightly when they all turned away without batting as much as an eyelash. _So much for being cordial,_ he thinks as he saunters over to an empty seat in the middle of the room. Luhan eyes the tag he had received when he had filled in the forms, just for administrative purposes so they had his record. It is round and black and the grooves in it depict the number ‘12’ that he traces with the pad of his thumb curiously. He was sure that he was the fifth person here, so why did he get the number ‘12’?

Luhan had no time to brood over it, because apparently the company did not run on a chronological order anyway. His name was called out several minutes later, and he hastily gets up from his newly-occupied seat, his head bowed low as he walks past the other auditionees who were here earlier. To say that they were glaring daggers at his back was probably an understatement.

He proceeds through the open door that another staff member is holding open for him, then bows to the panel of three judges who are sitting there. One of the people sitting there is Jung Songhyun, and the man gives him an encouraging smile, which Luhan returns, albeit a bit wobbly because of his nerves. Another man alarmingly reminds Luhan of a much older version of the person called Kyungsoo in his dreams, though he blinks the confusion away when he identifies the man to be SM Entertainment’s founding person, Lee Sooman, and the resemblance fades away. He’s seen the man many times through videos prior to this, he notes. Perhaps that’s the reason why he looks familiar to Luhan. The other person on the panel is a woman that he has never seen before, and she seems to be one of the dance choreographers, if the way she is dressed is anything to go by.

He recognises the room with its elevated stage; he remembers having seen it before in some of the behind the scenes clips, and he knows that it is one of the larger practice rooms that is often used for choreography involving more people. Luhan advances to the stage as Songhyun gestures for him to move up to the microphone. He proceeds to explain what they want Luhan to do: talk about himself, sing, and then dance, before they take a few angle shots of him in different poses.

Luhan executes all of the requested points, all that he had practiced in the past year – flawlessly, he hopes – and earns the approving nods from the panel of judges. He promptly relaxes. And then comes the most unnerving part of it all: the judges’ decision. He is asked to wait in a different room from the one that he was in before while they deliberate, and he alternates between tapping his shoe on the floor, and pacing back and forth nervously for the twenty minutes that he is in the room alone.

After what seemed like ages, someone walks into the room and clears their throat, jolting Luhan out of his reverie. He finds none other than Jung Songhyun standing at the door and looking expectantly in his direction, causing Luhan to scramble to his feet and give the head of department a very respectful bow. The older man chuckles, gesturing for Luhan to follow him back into the previous room. “Come on in, we’re waiting for you.”

He frowns a little, wondering whether he had failed the audition, but obeys the middle-aged man’s orders anyway. Songhyun rejoins the panel of seated judges, and Luhan hesitantly goes to stand in front of them. He vaguely wonders where the other four candidates are and if they have been tested already by a different panel of judges. It didn’t seem like it, considering the fact that he was the one and only person in the second room. _Are they going slow with the auditions?_

“Congratulations. You’ve passed the auditions. I would like to officially welcome you on behalf of SM Entertainment to be trained under us.” Lee Sooman suddenly begins with a booming voice, catching Luhan by surprise again. Luhan wonders if he’s daydreaming again, and surreptitiously pinches his wrist to check. He manages to keep his wince in check at the acute pain when he discovers that no, he isn’t in fact dreaming.

“Am I really through?” Luhan finds his voice several moments later, just to make sure that his sense of hearing was still intact. After having been disappointed once, he can’t be too happy until he was really, _really_ sure that he is indeed an official trainee now.

Lee Sooman finds this amusing and claps a hand onto Luhan’s shoulder. “That’s right, young man. Go ahead and explore the company further before your training sessions which will begin tomorrow. I’m expecting a bright future from you.”

And Luhan bounds out of the room with a broad grin on his face, but not after thanking the panel of judges repeatedly.

“Don’t forget to report back tomorrow morning at 8:30am sharp! There are some documents I need to go through with you, as well as your training schedule!” Songhyun calls after him, waving at the excited boy.

This is it, the first step towards his dreams to be a singer and to perform on stage. It would be an arduous path ahead, he’s sure, but he was ready to take on the challenges.

As he turns around the corner to gain access to the lift lobby, Luhan was stunned in his position by another person who had passed him by. _Kai_ , his mind instinctively screamed, when the boy with tanned skin and short-cropped ebony hair appeared in his peripheral vision. The blood pounds in his ears at the realisation.

It takes Luhan all but five seconds to whirl around to call after the person, only to find himself facing an empty corridor. He jogs to the cross-section and does a 360-degree spin, but there was not a single soul to be seen. Was he merely hallucinating as a result of the ecstasy that grappled him? After looking around a bit more for Kai, he returns to the reception area, intent on handing back the tag to the staff there. They tell him to keep it, as they normally do for candidates who have officially been chosen as trainees, and Luhan smiles widely, unaware that he’s dazzling them already, before he once again runs his fingers over the ‘12’, still ignorant of the significance of the number.

Elsewhere on another floor, Jongin phases into a deserted corridor, looking around him as he walks to the training room where Junmyeon and Chanyeol are waiting for him, unaware that he just missed the guardian they have been looking and waiting for by mere seconds.

 


	10. {9} angels and demons

The second Luhan has left the room, Sooman turns to Songhyun, smiling in a manner that makes the other man slightly apprehensive. The dance choreographer with them, upon sensing the hostile environment in the room, quietly takes her leave with a short bow. The minute the door closes behind her, Sooman’s smile drops from his face, mouth turning into a grim line on his face.

“What part of ‘Let me know if you spot anyone else’ is not stated simply enough for you and Jongmin to understand? I thought I made it very clear during the last meeting that if _any_ of them were spotted that you were to let me or Youngmin know first!”

Songhyun sighed. “Yeah, yeah, I overlooked that point. But I had to intervene before Jongmin went in search of the boy first. You know how quickly he acts, don’t you? Would you rather have him show up and scare the daylights out of the boy and risk our plan never coming to fruition?”

_Is someone talking about me?_ Jongmin’s playful voice joined the conversation in their minds. _It’s rude to discuss about someone else behind their backs, you know._ Sooman gives Jongmin the equivalent of a mental glare, while Songhyun gives the youngest man a mental shove. _Butt out of this Jongmin, I’m busy trying_ not _to piss Sooman off. You’re not helping!_

_Really, Songhyun? I’m right here_. Sooman deadpans at the other man’s thoughts. He would have thought that Songhyun’s habit of stating the obvious would have gone away as they grew older, but it seemed as if old habits die hard. He could already feel the headache forming, and he sighs as the bickering between Songhyun and Jongmin went back and forth while he was obliged to listen to their nonsense.

_...Shall I just inform Youngmin or Woojung that the two of you are behaving like imbeciles again?_ Sooman wonders idly. The sudden silence from both of them is rather gratifying, and he smirks. _I thought not._

_This is the one moment when I’m glad that you’re not the mind-reader, Sooman._ Songhyun comments dryly. _Otherwise I’d probably be long dead by now._

_It would serve you right, wouldn’t it?_ The other man returns snippily. _Both are you are so noisy at times that I really wonder why Kwangyeol hasn’t killed both of you by now_.

_Because Kwangyeol loves me. He wouldn’t even think about it._ Songhyun replies smugly. Sooman rolls his eyes at the man. None of them are surprised when Kwangyeol’s disgruntled mental voice joins into their conversation. _Can all of you shut up or go somewhere else? I’m trying to teach here without all of you morons interrupting me! And really, Songhyun. Don’t push it. I’m going to make you sleep in the bath tub for the next two weeks._

_You wouldn’t dare._ Songhyun huffs.

_Good God,_ Woojung’s voice rings in their minds, causing everyone to tense up – in particular Jongmin and Songhyun. _Stop bickering like five-year-olds for a second, can you? I’m in an important meeting right now and all I can hear are your voices. Shut the fuck up._

_I’m trying to pay attention too. Seriously, guys, just bring your petty little arguments and settle them in person instead of broadcasting them in the public channel._ Jisuk mentally groans as well.

_Seriously, though,_ Youngmin joins in, voice angry and exasperated, _is it possible for you to stop meddling in terms of the talent scouting, Jongmin? I know you’re eager to gather all of them together, but this isn’t the way to go about it._  

_But it’s taking forever!_ Jongmin exclaims. _And you never let me do anything except stay stuck here in the mansion. What do you expect me to do when I get really bored?_ His voice is much more childlike and less petulant after Youngmin and Woojung have joined in the conversation.

_You know_ exactly _why we don’t let you leave the mansion. Covering up that incident when there was that whole bunch of kids that dropped dead suddenly was already taxing enough._ Youngmin scolds Jongmin sternly, and Songhyun can almost see the younger man cowering away from Youngmin. They had managed to cover up the incident, but Youngmin had punished him severely because of that, and he had not been allowed out of the mansion since.

_We mean it, Jongmin,_ Woojung warns, _just stay put for now, and we’ll let you have all the fun you want when the time has come. But step out of line one more time before that..._ He leaves his sentence hanging and the unsaid promise is more than enough to convince Jongmin that no matter how much he wants to interfere, he won’t be able to do anything to speed up the process with the remaining four guardians that they have yet to locate.

_Fine, I’ll keep my interference to a bare minimum_. He sulks. The others breathe a sigh of relief.

_Good,_ Youngmin nods satisfactorily, _now let’s wait for everything else to unfurl._

 

**

 

 

One week into his training at SM Entertainment, and Luhan was _loving_ every bit of it. His schedule had been arranged by Songhyun to the point where it was fairly bursting with dance classes, and also singing and language training, but there was less of the latter since he was already studying it at Yonsei. The best surprise was when the DBSK members themselves had shown up in the middle of one of his dance classes. Kwangyeol-sonsaengnim had pointed him out specifically to the members, who had actually smiled and waved at him, and had told him to work hard.

Luhan had been so star-struck from seeing them up close, he swore he practically had a meltdown there.

(No one but the top levels of management knew that it had been Youngmin who had not-so-subtly hinted – practically demanded, actually – that DBSK should go visit that specific dance class because there was a very promising new trainee there. When Jongmin heard about it from Songhyun, he was both elated, and disappointed that he couldn’t be there to witness it himself.)  

The autographs from the DBSK members were framed up in his dorm room, of which Luhan would take a look at it every night without fail.

Nevertheless, even though Luhan was swamped with practices, he never failed to be on the lookout for the three people he had been searching for all this while – Kai, Suho, and Chanyeol. It felt somewhat weird to Luhan that he had _never_ crossed paths with the trio, even though he was sure that they were around in the building. He could sense them (inexplicably so, he notes) moving about, and would be together most of the time. Luhan vaguely wondered whether they were placed in the same class. Their joint appearance in DBSK’s MV served to prove his suspicions. That sense of familiarity that he saw for the brief moments they had in the MV is something he longs to see for himself, in person – rather than replayed a hundred, million times in slow motion as he observes their interaction on his own laptop screen.

Not really caring that he was appearing like a creeper, Luhan finds himself pressing his ear against each door he passes by in the hallways that day, trying to listen for sounds coming from within the training rooms. He had just been given a particularly difficult choreography to practice with, and was told by his dance teacher Kwangyeol to not let anyone else know about it. As a result, Luhan was forced to search for an empty practising studio on his own.

On his fifth door, several familiar voices catches Luhan’s attention, and although it was against his principles to eavesdrop, Luhan finds himself getting stuck against the wooden surface and listening intently to every word that was being said. Snippets of their conversation and laughter filter through the door.

“-....new trainee...rumours...dancing....you heard?”

“He’s Chinese, I think?” A particularly deep voice says, and Luhan finds himself blinking; he had heard this voice _somewhere_ before. It also seemed that the rumour mill sure worked fast in the agency.

“Do you think it’s Luhan?” Another person voices up; Luhan’s mind stirs sleepily in response to it. _Su...ho?_ He turns the door knob slowly, pushing the door open a little bit so he can hear a bit clearer, and hopes that the people inside the room haven’t noticed him. Luhan squints through the slit into the room, hoping to catch a glance of the people inside, but it’s the wrong angle, and he can’t see who they are, only hear them.

The people in the room spoke in hushed voices this time, causing Luhan to have to strain his ears to actually pick up on the conversation. Just as they began discussing about the possibilities that more ‘guardians’ were already in the company but somehow went under the radar, Luhan feels an arm snaking around his neck from behind and pulling him backwards, causing Luhan to crash into a soft entity.

“What are you doing here? It’s rude to eavesdrop.” His attacker speaks up. Luhan notes a dangerous edge to his voice, but he braves himself to crane his neck slightly to take a look at the person. There is absolutely no sense of fear within him, even though Luhan knows that he should be terrified to be caught in someone else’s grip. Everything feels so familiar to him, as though the occurrence is nothing but mere second nature, and Luhan finds out why his body was reacting in such a manner moments later.

“Hello, Kai. We finally meet again.” He smiles when he recognises the boy who still had his arm around his neck. Luhan reaches up to pat Kai’s arm, savouring the shocked expression on the latter’s face. “What? Don’t you recognise me?” He says impishly.

“L-Luhan?” Kai whispers in disbelief, and the other boy nods in reply.

“Jongin, where the heck did you-” The voice which Luhan finally remembers belonged to Chanyeol came from the direction of the practising studio, edging closer and closer to them before he abruptly stopped mid-sentence. An equally surprised expression was on his face as Luhan grins back at the fire guardian.

“Hello to you too, Chanyeol.” Luhan greets. The taller boy looks like a statue there, staring at him in shock. Luhan can hear other people approaching the door.

“What’s going on Chanyeol? Did you find Jongin? Who’s there and why are you stuck here like a statue?” Junmyeon pulls open the door wider, Sehun and Minseok right behind him, and the three of them end up staring at the sight that is Jongin who has an arm wrapped around another boy’s neck. The youngest boy recovers first and pushes past Junmyeon and practically pounces on the both of them, long arms stretching out to hug Jongin as well. The three of them collapse into a heap on the ground, with Jongin yelping, breathless and in pain from the combined weight of Luhan and Sehun on top of him.

“Dude, get _off_!” He tries unsuccessfully to shove both of them off him, but Sehun is holding on too tightly, and Luhan is laughing hard in between both of them. Jongin huffs, resigned to being stuck on the floor until the two laughing morons can get the hell off him.

It isn’t until Minseok utters a dubious “Is Jongin dead?” that Luhan and Sehun scramble away hurriedly, finally remembering Jongin’s existence at the bottom of the dogpile. He rolls his eyes at the both of them, before gingerly sitting up and stretching out his back, cataloguing any pain that might have resulted from them smacking him down to the ground.

Luhan offers a hand to Jongin and effortlessly pulls him up, grinning at the younger boy as he does so. “Did it never occur to you that you could’ve actually phased away instead of staying there underneath the both of us?” He asks curiously. The younger boy narrows his eyes at him.

“In clear sight in the middle of a corridor? Where anyone passing by might see? Are you crazy?” Jongin defends himself.

Junmyeon clears his throat deliberately, while Sehun lifts an eyebrow, and Jongin shifts his eyes guiltily. Minseok’s lips are quirked up in a half-smirk, and Chanyeol sniggers, “That’s rich, coming from the person who got found out by Sehun because he was too lazy to walk around his school corridors.”

“That didn’t stop you from phasing into clear view right behind me, though.” Luhan wiggles his eyebrows at Jongin, adding insult to injury. The younger boy scowls, and it feels like old times again back on EXO Planet when all twelve of them used to hang out during breaks from training their powers, just being themselves rather than guardians.

“Seriously, though,” Junmyeon speaks up, promptly breaking up the previous discussion from straying too far. “Since when did you join the company, Luhan hyung?” The older boy beams at them brightly.

“I just started this week actually! I was hoping that I’d be able to see all of you because I watched that HaHaHa MV and saw you, Chanyeol and Kai in it and I needed to find out why on earth I kept seeing all of you in my dreams. So I auditioned and here I am.”

“So wait... let me get this straight, you know all of our names, but have no idea who we are and what happened before this?” Jongin frowns.

“Nope!” Luhan chirps brightly. “Am I supposed to know something else?” All of their faces fall at his cluelessness.

“This is going to be difficult,” Sehun sighs. He could feel his ecstatic mood from meeting Luhan again dwindling rapidly. “We were actually banking on the possibility that you might have the most complete memory about our past amongst all of us, but obviously not.”

“Well,” Minseok begins. “Maybe in time he’ll remember too. Half of us didn’t remember anything at the beginning either, but our memories are slowly coming back. All we can do now is wait, I guess.”

“To be honest, I’m not really sure whether we have the time to wait, especially when there’s no saying _when_ exactly our memories will completely return to us.” Junmyeon comments, while Jongin nods grimly in agreement next to him. Chanyeol was also uncannily silent at the sound of Junmyeon’s statement.

Luhan, on the other hand, couldn’t quite comprehend what was going on. “Why do you say so, Suho?” He asks, tilting his head slightly to the side.

“Just a gut feeling.” Jongin answers on behalf of Junmyeon. “Even though I’m glad that we’re gathered here again after what had happened on EXO Planet, I can’t help but feel that _something_ is going to happen. Isn’t that right, Junmyeon hyung?”

“I don’t know,” Junmyeon answers vaguely. “Anyway, we might be overthinking this. Don’t worry about it.” None of them miss the tell-tale furrow in between his eyebrows that says otherwise, but they do not call him out on it.

“So... this is everyone?” Luhan asks as he looks around him, realising that there were only six of them there.

Chanyeol shakes his head in response. “We have Kris, walking around the company. He refuses to talk to us though.” He scowls.

Junmyeon rolls his eyes at the fire guardian. “Like I said, it’s probably due to the language barrier. He’s not fluent enough in Korean to entertain your rapid speeches.”

“Unless...” Sehun begins, casting a calculative look in Luhan’s direction. The latter raised an eyebrow at Sehun. The rest of the boys stare at him with wide grins on their faces. Jongin’s smirk is particularly sardonic and evil, Luhan thinks.

“Now that you’re actually here...I’m sure you can talk to Kris hyung, right?”

The edge of Luhan’s lips pulls up into an equally sardonic smirk at the prompt. “Oh, _definitely_.”

 

**

 

Yifan rolls his shoulders, watching his own reflection in the mirror as he tries to mimic the exact moves that their dance instructor Kwangyeol had taught them earlier. He gives an irritated ‘tch’ at the less than perfect angle of his feet and tries the move again. While learning Korean is not an easy process even though he’s been learning it for the past two years, it seems like a walk in the park in comparison to his struggles in dance classes. He always has to practice a thousand times more in order to achieve that smooth flow that some of the other trainees can get just in one shot, and this really irks him because it’s one of the things that he would have figured he would be good at. Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem as if being a genius at basketball equated to being a genius at dancing.

He was beginning to entertain the idea that he was born with two left feet when someone suddenly taps him on the shoulder, shocking him out of his skin. Yifan swerves around, only to find a shorter boy with large, watery eyes looking up at him. If he didn’t know better, he would have thought that the boy was one of those porcelain dolls come to life. He certainly had the eyes and the skin for it. Yifan’s skin was promptly covered with goosebumps, feeling absolutely creeped out by the boy.

“Ye-yes?” Yifan asks a little shakily in Chinese, as the boy seemed to be a Chinese national as well. “Can I help you with something?”

“I noticed that you seem to be struggling a little with your footwork. Do you need help?” The boy asks in flawless Mandarin, his huge eyes still blinking away from time to time. Yifan feels himself shudder crawl down his back, and it’s not a nice feeling. He takes a tentative step backwards to increase the distance between him and the boy, because honestly, the boy probably does not know about the existence of a private bubble.

“Um. I. Thanks for the help, but I’ve got to go now. Maybe next time.” Yifan nods in thanks at the boy and hurriedly makes his exit, grabbing his rucksack and jacket from the floor and not bothering to wave. He can feel the other boy’s eyes on his back and it is _creepy as hell_. He shudders involuntarily again and picks up his speed, eager to get away from the practising studio as fast as he could. _Thank God for long legs,_ he thinks.

 

**

 

As he watches the tall boy walk away from the room without even bidding a proper goodbye, Luhan’s cheeks puffs up in annoyance. Now that he had experienced it for himself, he shares Chanyeol’s sentiments. Kris _is_ a _prick_. He glances to his right when Jongin phases into plain view seconds later, the questioning look on the latter’s face.

“No luck?” Jongin asks. The other boy shakes his head, bottom lip pouting out. “All I did was offer to help him out with his footwork because he looked as though he was having problems with it, and he looked like he’d seen a banshee and couldn’t wait to get away from me. How rude.”

Jongin snickers, and gets socked in the arm for it, which causes him to snicker even more at a glaring Luhan. “Let me guess, you gave him that googly eyes look? Of _course_ he ran, moron.”

“Watch your language, Jongin.” Luhan eyes him darkly and cuffs him at the back of his head. “I’m still older than you and I expect some form of respect from the likes of you.” Now it is Jongin’s turn to mutter and pout while he rubs at his abused head, while giving the older boy a mock-scowl look.

“You sadist. Stop abusing me as you please.” The older boy gives him a very bright eye-smile.

“How about… _no_.”

Jongin sighs and runs a hand through his hair at the answer, knowing full well that there was no way to stop Luhan when he puts his mind on something. That was when an idea strikes him, and a smirk appeared on his lips. “Hey, maybe we should bother Kris again. _Together_.”

The smile on Luhan’s face grows to Cheshire Cat proportions.

“Now _that_ , is the best idea you’ve had all day.”

Elsewhere, Yifan sneezes and shudders, feeling as if somebody has walked over his grave.

 


	11. {10} taking flight... and walking miserably

Yifan keeps throwing suspicious glances over his shoulder as he walks down the hallways of the company. He can feel that prickly feeling as if someone is always staring at him, but when he turns around, nobody’s there. By the tenth time he repeats the same actions, a deep frown is already creasing his forehead, feeling incredibly annoyed at the nagging sensation that he could not shake off no matter how hard he tries to do so.

He hears a quiet snicker behind him, and this time he turns around lightning-quick, but there is still nobody there. Yifan feels a shiver run down his spine again. Now that he thought about it, there was a talk about the company ghost which was rampant amongst the trainees a couple of weeks ago. He shook it off as a hoax back then, but now he’s not so sure about that anymore. Right now though, he’s starting to feel more irritated than anything, and the next time he turns around to a snicker, his patience snaps.

“Alright, that’s enough!” He yells out in his limited Korean, fully expecting to see nobody there again, but much to his surprise, finds the boy with the large eyes from the other day and another boy with tanned skin grinning sheepishly at him.

“Hi, hyung.” The one with tanned skin greets him cheekily. “Why are you so pissed off this early in the morning? It’s not good for your health, don’t you know that?”

Yifan’s expression scrunches into one of confusion as he turns towards the doe-eyed boy to seek clarification. “What did he just say?”

The doe-eyed boy stares back at him, incredulous. “You’ve been learning Korean for two years and you _don’t know_?”

“It’s not my fault if he’s using complicated Korean.” Yifan argues.

“It’s not complicated.” The Chinese boy retorts, raising an eyebrow at him. “Good God, you’re hopeless.” Yifan bristles at this and it is the other boy’s turn to snicker into the palm of his hand, as though he understands what the doe-eyed boy had said. Yifan glares at him, and the snicker turns into a cough, but he can still see the smile still there on his lips.

“So may I know _why_ the both of you are tailing me around?” Yifan promptly averts the topic, eyeing them questioningly.

“We just want to be friends.” The other boy replies in Korean, again sounding as though he had a perfect understanding of Chinese, extending his hand for Yifan to shake. “My name is Jongin.” He nods to the doe-eyed boy beside him. “And this is Luhan.”

Yifan stares at Jongin’s hand for a short moment, before shaking it hesitantly. Luhan is beaming at him, all smiles, while he holds his hand out for the taller boy to shake, and Yifan shakes Luhan’s hand even more hesitantly.

“Um, so... we’re acquainted now. I’ll take my leave.” Yifan nods slightly, and immediately turns around to leave. He’s taken aback when he comes face to face with a smiling Jongin. _When the hell did he get here anyway?_

“Leaving so soon?” The other boy asks. “C’mon hyung, stay and talk a bit longer.”

Yifan scowls at Jongin, feeling annoyed by the boy already. “Unlike you, I have schedules to stick to. Excuse me.” He starts to push past Jongin, only to be held back by Luhan. Another shiver runs down Yifan’s back when those large, watery eyes blinked creepily at him.

“I’m pretty sure that my schedules are similar to yours for today; there’s nothing on for us at the moment.” Luhan’s lips spreads into a wide grin. “Doesn’t the company encourage us trainees to mix around more? Who knows, we might even debut under the same group in the future.”

Yifan looks at them strangely, deciding right there and then that he wants nothing to do with _either_ of these boys, and sidesteps to try to get around them. The problem is that both Luhan and Jongin mirror his actions, blocking him off again.

“Have you ever entertained the thoughts that you might not be... normal?” Luhan prompts, and Yifan gets even more weirded out by the boy. He takes offense in Luhan’s words, his stance becoming defensive.

“Yeah? And how normal are _you_?” Yifan snaps at Luhan.

Jongin answers in his stead, smirk on his face, and then he disappears in front of Yifan’s eyes, leaving a puff of dark smoke behind, then reappearing again, lounging on the wall a bit further away. Yifan stares at the spot where Jongin previously was, then at the boy lounging a few metres away. Said boy gives an infuriating little wave from where he is, and a confused (and increasingly pissed off) Yifan looks at Luhan instead.

"What the hell is this about? Is this some kind of trick you're trying to pull on me?"

"I really wonder." Luhan muses, except Yifan realises that he wasn't talking; Luhan's lips were pressed into an amiable smile, but they weren't moving. He was hearing Luhan's voice in his head instead. Yifan's eyes fly wide open, thinking that he was merely hallucinating, and he finds himself taking another step backwards, his back colliding with the wall.

"Ah, so you can really hear my thoughts." Luhan begins again, half saying it out loud and half transmitting his words directly into Yifan's mind. The slightly shorter boy cocks his head, as if hearing Yifan’s thoughts, and then smiles brightly as he answers them. “And no, don’t worry. You’re not insane.”

"This is _not_ normal, no matter how you look at it!" Yifan retorts indignantly, feeling the blood rush to his face. He was completely flustered by the turn of events, and he was confused as _hell_.

"Like I said, you're not normal yourself." Luhan rolls his eyes at Yifan. Yifan stares at him, incredulous.  

“Guys, I don’t mean to disrupt your verbal exchange, but I’ll have to kidnap you guys for a brief moment.” Jongin suddenly cuts in, his voice low. His eyes are darting around in a nervous manner, but Luhan immediately understood what was going on. Yifan, however, was left clueless, but he did not have the opportunity to clarify as his sights blacked out when Jongin put a hand on his shoulder.

He didn’t even have time to splutter a response, but the minute he can see again, Yifan blinks in rapid confusion when he looks around at his surroundings. He can recognise that it’s one of the less-used training rooms, but how on _earth_ did he get there in the first place? He’s quite sure that he had been far, far away from this particular room.

“Jongin teleported us here.” Luhan says as-a-matter-of-factly, causing Yifan to whirl around in surprise. Sensing his questioning look, Luhan sighs and explains Jongin’s actions. “We couldn’t stay in the hallway any longer since the other trainees were about to flood the area. He brought us here so that we could resume our conversation, uninterrupted.”

“Right.” The tall boy steps away from them immediately, making his way towards the door. “Ok, I get it, you’re both crazy. Bye.”

“Kevin Li Jiaheng, _seriously_.” Luhan calls out again, and Yifan stops dead in his tracks. No one was supposed to know he had changed his name. _What the hell._ Luhan ignores Yifan’s running thoughts. “After seeing what we could do, would you believe in us if we said you could fly?”

“You’re crazy.” He mutters again, and without a word to the other two boys, he leaves the room, getting away as fast as he can. Jongin, who had wanted to chase after Yifan and force him to stay put in the room until they ironed out the entire matter, was held back by Luhan instead. Luhan gives him a firm shake of the head, silently asking Jongin to let Yifan go.

“We’ll catch him next time. He’s still in that state of disbelief.” Luhan explains, and Jongin sighs, nodding. “By the way, what was the whole sudden uprooting about? And no, before you try to feed me nonsense that some trainees were headed in our direction, I’m not buying it.”

Jongin flashes the older boy a wry smile when he was called out on his lie. Apparently, some things couldn’t be hidden from Luhan even if their mind channels weren’t completely connected. “Someone was – _is_ – watching our every move, and it’s not any other layperson; you probably can’t sense it because your powers are still unstable. I don’t know why, but I have a bad feeling about this.”

Luhan bites his lip, apprehensive. The other boys had brought him up to speed on what they remembered, and he was trying to remember their pasts as much as possible, but it seemed that the threat isn't over even though they were no longer on EXO Planet. If anything, there were so many more things that were unknown, including _who_ they were up against, and the worst part was they weren’t even at their full powers, and not all of them were gathered together. Not counting Kris, they were still missing Yixing, Kyungsoo, Chen, Baekhyun and Tao. That is practically half of their firepower there, not to mention their healer was nowhere to be found. They won’t stand the slightest chance if their enemy – whoever they are – decided to attack them right now.

“What do you reckon will happen?” Luhan asks moments later, earning a shrug from Jongin.

“I can’t say for sure, but at any rate, we’ll need to get the guardians in the company into our fold as fast as we can. We’ll have to work on everyone’s memories too – yours included – so that we won’t have a repeat of what had happened on EXO Planet.” He enumerates grimly, chewing on his inner cheek as he mulls over the possibilities. It was difficult to plan their next course of action when they have no inkling as to what was hidden in the shadows. “We’ve also got to work harder on getting better at using our powers, especially since we don’t know when we’ll need them. I’ve been working hard with Junmyeon, Minseok and Chanyeol hyung and Sehun, but we need to see how far your mind-reading powers can go, as well as your telekinesis.”

Luhan flashes a grin at Jongin. “At least we know that it’s possible for me to enter a guardian’s mind without actually requiring them to have memories of us. Or rather, I should say that I can infiltrate someone else’s mind whether they like it or not.” He taps a finger against his chin, thinking out loud. “I don’t know how to practice my Seeing, since I haven’t had any prophetic dreams; if anything, I keep dreaming of our planet.”

Jongin perks up in attention, looking hopefully at Luhan. “Did you by any chance See anything that does not resemble your previous dreams, or remember what happened on that particular day we came to Earth?”

The older boy shakes his head slowly, brow furrowed in thought. “It’s all a jumble. I remember telling Tao to try and freeze us in time as much as possible so that we would all end up together, in the same place at least, but obviously something went wrong there.” He eyes the younger boy. “Do _you_ remember where your part of the Tree of Life is? I’m not sure where mine has gone, but I can still feel its presence somehow.”

“If I did, I wouldn’t feel so conflicted right now. Just like you said; the presence is there, but I can’t pinpoint its exact location.” Jongin sighs, smiling wryly at Luhan, then amends himself. “The presence is much stronger these days as compared to when I had first sensed it, though. I wonder if that’s the reason why we’re all slowly gravitating to the same place.”

Luhan tries to reason out this line of thought, but continues it in the space of their minds. “If that’s the case then maybe we’ll be seeing the other five sooner than we thought we would. Since both of us are here, we might ‘pull’ them to us that much faster.”

“I agree.” Jongin echoes in his mind. “But I don’t want a repeat of what had happened on EXO Planet, so we’ll have to figure out how we should convince Kris that he _does_ have powers like ours. I’m not too worried about Chanyeol hyung, since he’s hanging out with us on a daily basis. We’ve worked out a plan to ensure that any odd behaviour could be detected as soon as possible. Kris hyung, on the other hand...”

Luhan sighs, and it is once again brought to light just how complicated all of this is for a bunch of teenagers who are trying to make it big in the entertainment industry, let alone figuring out the amount of danger they are in because they _technically_ aren’t human, and there’s also the big question of being open to mind control. Bringing _and_ convincing all twelve guardians that they actually have powers, and need to band together to look for and regrow the Tree of Life on this planet – and also fend off the unknown threat – is going to be one big headache. _Kris_ is already one big headache.

Jongin seemed to have read his thoughts and shared his worries; the younger boy places a hand on Luhan’s shoulder, giving it a comforting squeeze. “We still have time, I think. Let’s work out a method to convince Kris in the meantime.” The older boy nods faintly in reply.

“Let’s get him after practice.”

 

\-----

 

It is only a few days later when the demonic duo (what Yifan refers to as Jongin and Luhan in his mind) cross paths with Yifan again, and the tall boy groans inwardly at their appearance. Luhan is once again beaming that megawatt smile, that really, _really_ irks Yifan more than he would like to admit, and would like to scrub it off his face if he could. Jongin hangs back a little bit, the characteristic smirk on his face as he waves at Yifan.

“What do you want this time? Leave me alone.” Yifan snaps as he made his way past the pair, tired and cranky from practice. He was in his absolute worst mood to even _want_ to deal with them.

“About our discussion the other day-” Luhan begins, matching Yifan’s footsteps effortlessly as the latter walks down the hallway towards the lift lobby. Yifan stops dead in his tracks and whips towards Luhan, a pissed-off scowl on his face.

“I believe that I’ve made my stand clear. I have absolutely no interest in entertaining your whacky notions.” He turns his back on Luhan, fully intent on ignoring him and going on his way, but Jongin is suddenly there. Yifan had nearly forgotten that the boy could mysteriously disappear and reappear everywhere he pleases, but he finds that he’s no longer surprised.

“I’m sure you guys have better things to do other than stalking me.” He deadpans, trying to get them out of his space.

“Of course we do!” Luhan chirps delightedly. Yifan’s hopes of getting them off his back increases slightly, only to be disappointed moments later by Luhan’s continuation. “We’re trying to convince you to see things in our light here!” Yifan barely resists the urge to bang his head against the wall. What could he do get these two off his case?

He finally sighs in resignation, figuring that he might as well play along with them and pretended that he believed in everything they were trying to tell him. And _then_ maybe he could get rid of them for real. “Fine. I’ll listen. Shoot.”

Yifan regrets it instantly when Luhan’s smile brightens and nods to Jongin, who grins before grabbing each of them by a shoulder and drawling. “We’re going for a ride.” Seconds later, the hallway they were in earlier is empty. They reappear again and Yifan shakes his head slightly, trying to regain his balance. The other two boys do not share this difficulty; it’s as if they do this on a regular basis that it doesn’t even bother them anymore.

When he has regained his bearings, Yifan looks around and notices that they are near a staircase, the really long one that all of the trainees bitch about when they get assigned to use the training rooms on that floor, because there is no lift that they can take after they’re done with classes and are often too tired to climb the flight of stairs, but it is the only way back up to the main entrance from there.

“Right. So, talk already. It’s late and I want to get back as soon as possible. You’ve got 5 minutes.”

“We’ll make this quick.” Luhan promises, and gets straight to the point. “How would you feel if we told you that you could fly? Like, not on airplanes, but _really fly_.”

Yifan pulls a hand through his long unruly hair and sighs noisily. “You mentioned that before, but this isn’t like Harry Potter where I wave my wand around and shout out _Wingardium Leviosa._ is it?”

“We’re being serious here. Why don’t you try it out and see for yourself whether we’re playing a prank on you or not?” Jongin frowns at Yifan, slightly annoyed that they were being ridiculed in such a manner. Fellow guardian or not, all he wants to do is to sock Yifan in his face and make him come to his senses, but he’s not sure if Luhan (or Junmyeon or _Chanyeol_ , for that matter) would approve of his actions. Either way, damaging another trainee’s face was a no-no under the company’s rules as well. _Damn_.

"What, you want me to jump off the edge of a building without any reassurances that I will be alive by the end of it? Thanks, but no thanks." Yifan snorts. "Also, I think you might want to check yourself into a mental hospital before this whole thing gets the better of your sanity. I’ve had enough of this nonsense."

"Okay, you asked for it!" Luhan obliges him with a cheeky smile – that Kris will later label the _innocent bitchface_ – and then shoves him _hard_ off the staircase. That fucking 50-step staircase that all the SME trainees bitch about having to climb after training.

"What the fuck-!" Kris windmills his arms in a futile attempt to get back onto solid ground, waiting for the impact to crush his spine... and then notices that he's treading on air. “ _What the fuck._ ” He repeats himself in disbelief as he continues standing in mid-air.

Jongin smirks as he slouches against the wall.

"So, do you believe us now?" Jongin’s question goes unanswered as Yifan ‘walks’ unsteadily on air, concentrating on working his way back up onto the top of the stairs. Luhan’s shove had sent him nearly halfway down the staircase, and with this awkward way of walking back up the staircase, it is taking ten times longer. He ignores the quiet snicker coming from Luhan as he keeps his eyes on his feet, taking one step at a time. And with each step he takes, his mind stirs sleepily in response to a distant memory that he never even knew he had.

By the time Yifan reaches the top flight of stairs, Luhan and Jongin were already tired of standing, and were seated there while waiting for him. He isn’t quite sure what to say to the both of them, and decides on just joining them silently instead, folding his long legs and sitting himself on the ground.

“How did that feel?” Luhan asks several minutes later, flashing that infuriating, all-knowing grin at Yifan again. Yifan barely stops himself from pushing Luhan’s head down to hide that condescending expression of his.

“I think my mind has been officially, completely fucked up by this.” Yifan breathes, still blinking at the darkness ahead of them. He can now vaguely remember being stuck in a globe of water of all things with a _phoenix_. Everything else is pretty much jumbled.

“What happened to the phoenix?” He suddenly blurts out, which sends Luhan into peals of laughter, while Jongin chuckles as he slaps a hand against his own thigh. Yifan raises an eyebrow at their antics, and when they’ve finally stopped laughing, Jongin wheezily answers him.

“The _phoenix_ has been trying to talk to you all this while, but you brushed him off!”

“ _Who?_ ” Yifan spluttered, getting even more confused by the second. He couldn’t even differentiate between what’s real and what’s not in his mind any longer. “God, I feel like someone just bashed my head in with a goddamned hardbound dictionary.” He moans, clutching his head in his hands. The other two snicker, bumping shoulders with him teasingly.

“You’re lucky Chanyeol hyung isn’t here, he’d be rolling on the floor laughing at you and calling it divine judgement or something.”

“Chanyeol?” The guardian of flight echoes, forehead scrunched up as he tried to pin a face to the name. He turns to Jongin instead. “Is he that tall, gangly, hyperactive, and obnoxiously loud trainee who appeared in that music video with you?” The younger boy dissolves into laughter again and practically writhes on the floor as he rolls around. Luhan’s smirks but doesn’t say a word, and Yifan eyes him suspiciously.

Five minutes later, they hear a noisy rush of feet thumping and laughter moving in their direction, and then four heads pop around the corner, three of them grinning, and one scowling. Yifan easily recognises the scowling person to be that trainee who creepily approaches him all. the. damn. time.

“Kris Wu, how could you say such things about me? I’m deeply offended.” Said person flashes a massive pout in Yifan’s direction, causing the latter to back off slightly, alarmed. God knows he was weak against adorable charms. With the exception of Luhan of course, because Luhan was pure evil underneath those doe eyes and doll face looks.

“Do I _know_ you? All of you?” Yifan puts his question across bluntly, still frowning at the group of people who had joined them. Sure, he had occasionally crossed paths with them in the company, but he could not sense the slightest bit of familiarity coming from them.

“Yes, but it may take you some time to remember.” The shortest of the group holds his hand out for Yifan to shake, smiling pleasantly at him. “I’m Junmyeon. It’s nice to be able to talk to you again, Kris hyung.” Yifan stares at his hand for a moment, before shaking it mechanically. “Uh, hi, Junmyeon. Nice meeting you too.”

“Kris hyung, you look confused.” The pale one spoke up, before introducing himself as Sehun. The boy with the round face steps up, grinning slightly. “I don’t think we’ve ever seen this look on your face, not even back then. I’m Minseok.”

"And I'm out of here." Yifan breathes out in utter frustration and confusion, grabbing his backpack and making a run for it before anyone else could even react. Deep in his mind, he hoped that it was all a mere dream, and that he would wake up without any memory of this, nor get bothered by the group of odd trainees any longer. He didn’t think his mental health would survive the ordeal if it persisted.

Little did he know that his thoughts were all out in the open, thanks to the connection which Luhan had maintained on him. Silence reigned for all of five seconds before all of them burst out in laughter.

“One down and five more to go!” Luhan whoops mentally, and the others concur. He shares a smile with Jongin. _Things are finally starting to look up._

 


	12. {11} finders keepers

A few months down the road, they manage to slowly coax Yifan into hanging out more with them, his reluctance to use his power slowly ebbing away, but he is still a bit distant, not as tight-knit with the rest of them because of the timing of his schedules. He no longer walks on air like he did that first time; the way he moves is smoother, more sophisticated and somewhat graceful, rather than clumsy and slow. He finds himself knuckling Jongin’s head more than once when he whines, with Junmyeon scolding the younger boy until Jongin decides that his head isn’t to be abused in that manner, and phases away from them, complete with puppy eyes and a pout.

Yifan’s memories, on the other hand, isn’t making as much progress as the others had hoped he would. There’s still a large chunk of their past that remains forgotten by the guardian of flight, and nothing they do seems to help at all. He couldn’t even remember he could shapeshift into a fire-breathing dragon, but that was secondary. Most members agreed that it would be best if he does not realise it just yet. Yifan does not seem to mind the gaps in his memories as much as the rest, however.

Luhan and Jongin keep a much closer eye on him than he realises because of his seeming apathy to the rest of the guardians. The incident on EXO Planet is never far from their minds, and the underlying threat of another presence watching them intermittently made them even more wary, although they don’t mention their misgivings to the other guardians. It’s like being on EXO Planet all over again, with Luhan and Jongin leading the rest of the guardians, and no one questions their natural leadership. It just feels _normal_.  

They had debated with each other whether they should keep mum about their apprehensions, or whether they should confide in their friends, but at the end of the day, they came to a common conclusion: It was better to stay back and observe the situation in the meantime. Until they had solid evidence, or managed to gather all the guardians together, whichever came first. Jongin was betting on the latter to happen first, because whoever, _whatever_ it was stalking them was good and so slippery that he could only detect them _because_ they allowed him to. He was even beginning to think that the guardians were allowed to meet because of some elaborate ploy that he could not figure out just yet.

Little did Jongin know that his paranoia couldn’t be more accurate.

 

**

 

“This is boring!” The bowl of popcorn is upended and ends with an empty ‘plonk’ as the plastic bowl connects with the ground, while the popcorn is scattered across the floor. They know better than to leave anything breakable around Jongmin by now.

Songhyun glances up from the editorial he was reading to look at Jongmin, who is having one of his temper tantrums again. He shuts his magazine with a sigh, placing it on the armrest of the sofa, and gets up to go to the other man. Jongmin has stood up and is glaring at the numerous television screens showing the group of trainees.

“Stop watching them if you’re so bored and do something else. You _know_ that it might be a few more years before we can even make our move.” Songhyun’s eyes narrow at Jongmin’s not-so-innocent look. “And don’t even _think_ of pulling that crap with me that you haven’t been prodding around their minds and trying to see what you can use in there to speed things up. Woojung has issued the ultimatum. Don’t do anything stupid before the time is up.”

“Well what else do you guys expect me to do in this mansion when I’m not allowed to go out either? Rot to death?” Jongmin bristles, swatting something else off the table top. Songhyun reacts just in time to prevent the lamp from crashing into pieces to the floor, but the porcelain chips at the edge nonetheless.

“Maybe if you could _control_ yourself a little better, then Youngmin and Woojung would actually consider allowing you to step out of the mansion.” He waves a hand at the mess on the ground. “Doing this isn’t going to convince them at all.”

Jongmin is curiously silent for a short moment, before he glances up at Songhyun once again, that scheming look flickering in his eyes. “Perhaps _you_ can convince them on my behalf that it’s fine to let me roam around freely.”

“On what grounds, exactly?” The older man gestures with his fingers, and the bowl flies into his hands, the scattered popcorn following suit into the bowl.

“We both know that _I’m_ not the only one who wants our plans to move on faster...” Jongmin suggests with a sly smile, his knowing gaze training on Songhyun.

Songhyun narrows his eyes at Jongmin. “And what do you suggest?”

Jongmin’s smile widens at the question. “You can propose a ‘good behaviour bond’ to the rest, and offer to be my supervisor for a couple of weeks. I’ll act like the perfect saint that I am, and _then_ I should be free to walk out of this mansion.”

“And _then_ what?” Songhyun shoots back. “If you start going crazy again then Youngmin will really kill you this time, no questions asked.”

“I’ll go around... doing stuff instead of messing with their minds. I’m not that stupid to screw up my only chance of having the slightest bit of freedom, Songhyun.” Jongmin deadpans, rolling his eyes at the older man. “Like I said, I’ll be the perfect saint for as long as it requires for our plan to be set in motion.”

Songhyun eyes him warily, thinking it over silently. The glint in Jongmin’s eyes is a tad worrying, and the years of being cooped up in the mansion just might have made him even crazier than he was when they first left him there. If he really lost it completely one day, he just might take the rest of them down with him, and _then_ where would they be? All their hard work over the years, the _decades_ they’ve built up would be gone in smoke. Sooman and Youngmin and Woojung had practically built S.M. Entertainment up from scratch, and if they had to choose between killing Jongmin and S.M. Entertainment’s fall, not even their bond would stop them from doing the former.

“If you do anything stupid enough to mess up everything, I will not hesitate to end your life with my own hands, even if _he_ might resent me for borrowing his powers in the process.” Songhyun finally relents after giving it more consideration, his tone grave and serious. “Do I have your word on this?”

Jongmin’s eyes are serious after _he_ has been brought up. “You know how much _he_ meant to me. I won’t fuck around about that. If you want me to swear on _his_ name then you know what it means.”

Songhyun breaks into a smile at the reassurance, holding out his hand for the younger man. “Glad to have your understanding, Jongmin.” The younger man smiles back grimly, grabbing Songhyun’s hand and shaking it.

 

**

 

“I’m bored.” Jongin whines as he tosses the basketball across the room, which sails through the air before Luhan catches it deftly in his hands. All the existing guardians are gathered in their usual studio, just hanging out after their respective practising schedules for the day have ended. Several of them were yawning away from exhaustion, but makes it a point to stay awake regardless.

“Remind me why I’m here again.” Yifan deadpans as he flips through his Korean workbook. He thought he had managed to escape the meeting for the night, but Jongin had practically kidnapped him from the dorms and brought him along to join the rest of them – through his nauseating teleporting abilities, no less.

“Because you love us.” Luhan says with a straight face, as he tosses the ball at Junmyeon who catches it without a hitch.

Yifan scowls at the deceptively cute boy. “No, I don’t. In fact, I resent you to the deepest pits of hell for dragging me into this. Both you, and Jongin. Now I have to waste more money for an extra trip back to the dorm.” He pauses as he calculates the fees in his head. “I _hate_ you.”

The second youngest of their group pointedly ignores him as he continues to whine. “Why haven’t we found any new guardians lately? We’re still missing five more of us.”

“There’s no specific pattern of discovering the others, is there? I mean, everyone here came bouncing into the company unsuspectingly.” Junmyeon postulates as he attempts to dribble the ball against the carpeted floor. Luhan lazily zooms the ball away from him instead, making him pout, and it ends up floating towards Minseok, who grabs it in mid-air.

“But this is worrying. Most of us joined the company within a month or two of the others, but it’s been six _months_ since Luhan auditioned.” Jongin tries to reason with Junmyeon, whom nods after he gives Jongin’s statement some thought.

“We’ve still got hmmm...Kyungsoo, Baekhyun, Tao, Chen and Lay before all twelve of us are together.” Sehun counts off on his fingers. Yifan, who was previously concentrating on his Korean textbook, freezes mid-action and robotically looks up at Sehun with his piercing gaze. Sehun’s muscles immediately tenses up, wondering what he had said to provoke such a strong reaction from the guardian of flight. “What?” He splutters.

“Who else did you say isn’t here yet?” Yifan questions, closing his book and paying full attention to the conversation at hand for the first time in... forever.

“Kyungsoo, Baekhyun, Tao, Chen and Lay.” Minseok enumerates for him again. His sharp eyes meets Yifan’s. “Why, do any of these names stand out to you?” He asks, knowing that Yifan hasn’t really been working on uncovering his lost memories.

“Lay...” The other boy repeats as the recognition flashes in his eyes, and his mouth forms a huge ‘O’ in realisation. Then he buried his face in his hands. He seemed to be at a loss whether he should be laughing or crying with mirth, but either way, Yifan was trembling uncontrollably as the others stared at him as though he was out of his mind. “Lay... _Yixing_ has been in the company for almost a year now. Where the hell have you guys been?” He manages between laughs, not knowing that his statement comes as a big slap across their faces.

“ _What?_!” Jongin and Junmyeon all but shriek. Sehun slaps his hand against his forehead, while Minseok, Luhan and Chanyeol stare blankly at the strange sight of Yifan actually _laughing hard_.

“You mean he’s been here all this while and we didn’t notice? How come we haven’t even felt his presence or seen him even once?” Jongin tries to run through the faces of all the trainees that he’s seen in the agency, but not one matches up to the image of Lay in his mind.

“You evidently haven’t been paying enough attention to your surroundings,” Yifan snorts through his laughter, his eyes literally tearing up. “I’ve been hanging out with him for _ages_!” He straightens from his spot where he’s been leaning against the wall. “In fact, I’m kind of surprised that you guys haven’t noticed him, considering that he’s _actually in some of your dance classes_ from what he’s mentioned.” This time, Yifan’s judging gaze drifts over to Jongin, who frowns in response.

“You’re not pulling my leg, are you?” Jongin asks cautiously, not able to bring himself to believe in the older boy’s words. He knew that there were a couple of Chinese trainees in his classes, but none of the faces in his dance classes actually stood out to him and screamed ‘Lay’.

Yifan sniffs in reply. “I’m not that mean.” This is ruined by the snicker he can barely hide right after. “All I can say is that puberty does great things to some people. He really looks _nothing_ like the Lay you have in your minds.” Yifan supplemented, remembering how they met Yixing in his late teens back on EXO Planet.

“Okay...” Luhan says slowly. “So what _does_ he look like right now? Do you mind if I look through your mind to have a look myself so that we can find him?” Yifan shrugs, and Luhan takes that as permission to delve into his memories.

He kind of wishes that he didn’t.

“Oh. My. God!” He howls, not a few moments later, and ends up rolling on the carpet, laughing and holding his sides. “I remember seeing him on my TV screen with all his weird antics! Shit, I never knew that he was _the_ Lay that we know of!” The other guardians in the room who are all Korean have no idea what Luhan is going on about and look at him as though he has lost his marbles. He finally stops rolling about and sits up, wiping the tears of mirth from his eyes to explain to the rest of the boys.

“I’ll show you the clips from his show when I get my hands on a laptop,” Luhan breathes, still chuckling away at the hilarity of the situation, and inhales deeply to calm himself down. “But for now, I think we’ll need to get our hands on him.”

“Count me out.” Yifan pushes off from his seat on the ground, tucking his book under his arm as he stands up. Luhan pouts at him and gives him that doe-eyed look that creeps him out that he turns his head to ignore. “I’m not dragging one of my best friends off so that all you weirdos can terrorise him. Bye.” He leaves the room without another word, but Luhan’s message still rings through his mind.

_“You’re one of us weirdos too!”_

Yifan gives him a mental flip-off, knowing full well that Luhan is still trying to nudge his way into his consciousness.

 

\---

 

Yifan has absolutely no idea why he gave in to their coaxing, really. But on one afternoon where he was crouched down low behind a plant box with Luhan, Jongin, and Chanyeol, Yifan begins questioning his sanity. It’s by no means an easy feat either, what with his long legs getting bent in a horribly awkward angle which made him look like a goddamned frog that was preparing to take a leap.

Yifan mourns for his image. “Remind me what I’m doing here again.” He grumbles, and he thinks that it’s fast becoming his new tagline whenever he sees them.

“To kidnap Yixing.” Chanyeol is the one to oblige him with an answer, sounding as though it’s the most obvious thing in the universe. Jongin and Luhan hush them both as a group of trainees walk past. Sehun and Minseok had been a bit bummed out that they wouldn’t be able to join them, but they’d been asked to stay back by one of the choreographers because of some new moves that they’d been asked to nail. Luhan had promised to tell them all about it, though Junmyeon had asked him not to broadcast the images to Sehun and Minseok in fears that it would affect their concentration. Junmyeon himself had left early to study for his university entrance exams that were coming up, and had also warned the rest of the boys not to have _too_ much fun without him there.

“Is there really a need to do this, though?” Yifan questions again, his voice dripping with immense sarcasm and resentment for the three idiots who gleefully dragged him along on their shenanigans despite his resistance. “I mean, I could always walk up to Yixing and invite him to join our group.”

Jongin snorts. “Except you _wouldn’t_ actually do so even if we had threatened to kill you.”

“Or expose your dirtiest, darkest secrets.” Luhan supplements innocently. Yifan shoots a dirty look at the older boy; his comment truly cemented Yifan’s suspicions that Luhan was actually really, _really_ evil deep within. He shudders at the thought. His retort is cut off by Jongin. “I-”

“Shh!!! Here he comes! Luhan, go do your thing!” The youngest boy there says excitedly as the person in question walks past their plant box leisurely, gazing at nothing in particular and looking very out of it. Jongin and Chanyeol find themselves blinking in surprise and trying to muffle their impending howls of laughter, because even if Luhan had shared the image of the current Yixing with them, they still can’t believe how different he would look several years down the line.

Kris was right. Puberty worked wonders on Yixing.

Luhan casually gets up and strolls towards Yixing, as though it’s an everyday occurrence where one got up from behind a plant box (where it would have been easy to see three pairs of long legs, and another pair of _extra_ -long ones – that might or might not have given the appearance of being disgruntled – if one had been looking at the plant box) and went up to someone. Yixing blinks at Luhan’s sudden appearance, unfazed, then smiles.

“Hi.” He greets amiably, as though it’s _also_ a normal occurrence that someone would appear out of nowhere and walked up to him. “Are you going to kidnap me now?”

Luhan blinks his huge eyes at him, taken aback by the straightforwardness of the younger boy. He’s suddenly at a loss about what to say, and glances in the direction of the other three who were still (not so) hidden behind the plant box. They pretended as though they were minding their own business, flat out ignoring Luhan. Yifan, on the other hand, was suspiciously giggly. Luhan narrows his eyes at the long-legged boy; he evidently kept some form of information hidden.

“Whatever made you think that?” Luhan hedges, as he shoots daggers from out the corner of his eyes at Yifan whose shoulders are shaking badly with mirth.

Yixing’s eyes almost disappear as his smile widens, dimple in his right cheek deepening. “Well, I might have heard it from somewhere that I was going to get kidnapped today after practice?”

Luhan practically chokes at the boy’s words. “Did you by any chance hear this from a certain Wu Yifan? Because I’m going to strangle him when I get my hands on him, _and he better make a run for it right now._ ”

“Actually, no. Now that I think about it, I think I heard some unknown voice at the back of my head. It’s peculiar, really.” Yixing admits with a slight pout as he jogs through his memories. Luhan feels three pairs of eyes judging him badly from the side, along with a very sarcastic _‘good job, genius’_ coming from Yifan’s mind. Luhan’s middle finger finds its way out of his fist which was clenched behind his back, aiming it directly at the guardian of flight.

“Really, now.” Luhan huffs, averting his eyes from the three pairs of eyes that are judging him, then brightens as he grabs Yixing’s wrist, tugging him along.

“It’s not called kidnapping if you come along willingly right?”

Yixing scratches his head with his free hand, allowing himself to be tugged along, murmuring faintly. “Oh, I suppose not.”

Luhan continues chattering to Yixing about nothing in particular as he gestures behind for the others to _get your asses here already!_ , and the three behind the plant box exchange glances of disbelief of just _how easy_ it is to kidnap Yixing, before following stealthily behind the duo, even if there is absolutely no need to do so.

 

\---

 

“So let me get this straight... you don’t find our stories weird _at all_?” Junmyeon asks in disbelief as he watches the fairly calm Yixing, who shakes his head faintly in answer. The other guardians were surprised as well, in particular those who had witnessed some of their friends flip the fuck out when they were informed that they weren’t exactly _human_.

“If only Kris hyung handled the news as naturally as you did,” Jongin rolls his eyes. He dodges the finger-flick that is aimed at his forehead as if it is second nature by now (which it kind of is, where Yifan is involved).

“You have no idea what you’re talking about, Jongin. Yixing is those one in a million people who is pretty much nonchalant about everything, and I doubt you’ll find someone else like him, so count yourselves lucky.” Yifan retorts, and smacks the younger boy in the arm instead.

“Hey,” Yixing retorts indignantly, flashing a scowl at Yifan. “I’m not nonchalant about everything under the sun. I’m just open-minded. Unlike _some_ people.” He doesn’t need to point fingers, but everyone knows who he’s talking about when Yifan scowls right back.

“And here I thought I was helping you out, but what do I get? Bah, no gratitude! None!” Yifan throws his hands up in mock-anger.

“Quit bickering like a pair of lovebirds.” Chanyeol quips insolently, completely disregarding the fact that he was younger than the both of them. This time he gets knuckled in the head by both Yifan and Junmyeon for his trouble. “Ouch.” He mutters, when they’ve practically made a rat’s nest out of his hair and finally relent.

Luhan ignores the whole commotion and turns to Yixing with an expectant look on his face. “I’m curious; since you accepted our story without even questioning us, does that mean that you’ve regained your memories?”

“Unlikely.” Jongin intercepts before the person in question was even able to answer. “Look at his jawline. The tattoo’s missing.”

“What tattoo?” Yixing blinks at them. Kai turns around and holds his hair up away from his neck so that his tattoo is visible, and Luhan pulls down a sock to show the tattoo at his ankle.

“This is the sign that you have regained your abilities – in your case, healing – and your memories. The more visible it is, the closer you are to your original state on EXO Planet.” Junmyeon explains. Yifan, on the other hand, seemed to be as confused as Yixing. Luhan shoots Yifan a withering look. “You see what happens when you don’t hang out with us and practice using your powers more? Yours spans across your back, by the way.”

Yifan returns a how-the-hell-did-you-know look at Luhan. “I’ve never noticed it before. Based on Junmyeon’s explanation, I should be able to see at least a trace of it, shouldn’t I?”

“It probably shows up off and on,” Chanyeol adds in. “That happened to me a few years back when my powers first started manifesting. It would appear for a while, then disappear, but it’s only last year after I met Junmyeon hyung and Jongin and we started practicing a lot that it showed up properly and it’s been there ever since. There’s only one way to find out whether it’s really there, though.”

Yifan’s eyes widen in horror when Chanyeol approaches him with a mischievous smirk, and attempts to make a run for it; he knows full well what was on the younger boy’s mind. Yixing watches with a serene look on his face while the tallest boy gets cornered by a grinning Chanyeol, then Jongin who poofs into existence next to Chanyeol with a matching mischievous grin, cutting off Yifan’s path and boxing him in. Within the next second, Yifan’s shirt was discarded on the floor – _far_ from his reach – and his back was aimed at a full-length mirror.

“I feel extremely violated.” Yifan mutters dryly as he shoots a dirty look at Chanyeol and Jongin, who both had a triumphant grin on their faces.

“Well, would you look at that.” Chanyeol drawls, pointing a finger to the faint outline of a tattoo that looks somewhat like a dragon spreading its wings as if it was done in the tribal style. Yifan turns slightly, trying to see his back in the mirror. Indeed, there _is_ what looks like a faint tattoo on his back, and he wonders why he never really noticed it before at all. If it was darker, it would make a matching set with the tattoos that he has on each bicep.

Luhan snickers slightly at the sight. “Gangster!” Yifan wants to react to that term, only to realise that he doesn’t really have any other abilities which could _really_ hurt the evil incarnate. He can’t even control his flight abilities that well yet, let alone discover his other power like Jongin’s shadow manipulation and Luhan’s telekinesis. _Damn_.

For a brief moment, he considers taking up Jongin’s proposition to practice his abilities with them. He eyes the crazily dancing duo that is Chanyeol and Jongin flailing around randomly and thinks again, _...maybe not_.  He eyes Yixing who seems to be content listening to Junmyeon and Luhan explain about his powers.

If his closest friend in the agency ended up joining this group of weirdos, there really was no way of staying out of it, was there? Yifan sighs in resignation. He figures that he might as well help Yixing discover his lost memories and powers instead.

 


	13. {12} presentiment

Kyungsoo looks around the numerous hallways, eyes opened as wide as they could go. He could barely believe that he’d gotten casted and had been accepted into S.M. Entertainment, and now he was actually walking around in the building itself. If he was already amazed by the exterior of the company’s main building, he was even more star-struck by roaming within its premises. He barely manages to stop himself from falling over as he walks straight into another person because he was too busy gaping at his surroundings.

“Ack! I’m sorry!” He had grabbed onto the other person’s arm to stop himself from flailing towards the ground, and when he had gotten his bearings back, he hurriedly let go. The person who he had walked into is pale and – _wow, is he an ulzzang?_ – is peering at him strangely.

“Are you okay?” The boy asks, in a tone so soft that Kyungsoo thought he was whispering. The boy smiles at him, and he notices that his eyes become almost crescents – _and if smiles could knock people out by their dazzle, he’d probably be on the floor right now; Kyungsoo is rather jealous because his smiles are more like half-grimaces and whenever he tries one, and people end up running away from him_ – and the way that it stretches upon his lips is rather becoming. “Are you new here? You seem lost.” The boy says again, jolting Kyungsoo out of his daydream. If it were humanly possible, Kyungsoo’s eyes grew even wider than before.

His reaction causes the other boy to put a hand to his mouth and snicker quietly. “You’re cute. You must be new,” he concludes, before wrapping a soft hand around Kyungsoo’s wrist and pulling him along. “Do you want me to bring you to the trainers’ room? Are you supposed to report somewhere or something?” The fair-skinned boy asks again, then pauses when he takes note of Kyungsoo’s prolonged silence. “Am I overwhelming you with questions?”

“Um.” Kyungsoo’s eyes are still wide and he’s sort of overwhelmed while he tries to remember where he was supposed to report to. He looks down at the hand wrapped around his wrist. “Um. I think uh....” Kyungsoo trails off as he stares the boy’s nice long, slender fingers.

“Oh, does this bother you? Sorry, I sometimes react without thinking.” He uncurls his fingers from Kyungsoo’s wrist with a wry smile. Kyungsoo gets the impression that the boy is a rather touchy-feely person.

“No, it’s alright.” Kyungsoo shakes his head with an awkward grin, and not-so-subtly takes in the sight of the boy from head to toe. He seemed to have a poise of a dancer. _Is he a trainee here as well?_ “I just need to grab my schedule from my bag.” He pulls off the backpack and roots around for the file containing his introductory pack and schedule from SME. The other boy peers in curiously and notes that for a guy, Kyungsoo’s filing skills are neat. _Really_ neat. He soon pulls out a binder file and flips through it, eyes scanning each piece of paper before his eyes lit up with that “AHA!” look and he pulls out the exact object he needs.

“Are you a clean freak or-?” The taller boy asks the question in such a matter-of-fact manner and Kyungsoo huffs slightly, feeling a bit affronted.

“It’s a personal preference.” He zips up the bag and slings it back across his back, wide eyes looking at the pale boy with a hint of accusation. “Could you show me the way to this place, please? I’ve been trying to look for it for the entire morning but I seem to be going around in circles.”

The taller boy smiles at Kyungsoo’s slightly sulky, but still polite tone. “Sure.” He says easily. “I’m Oh Sehun, by the way. What’s your name? Maybe they might have put you in the same classes I’ve got.” Kyungsoo keeps up with the taller boy’s long strides as he walks alongside him.

“I’m Do Kyungsoo,” He smiles amiably at Sehun, the earlier hostility promptly forgotten. The boy – Sehun – must be an extremely straightforward person. “Thanks for agreeing to show me to the room.”

Sehun shrugs easily, “It’s nothing.”

Kyungsoo has no idea that Sehun is already calling out with his mind to Luhan and Jongin that he’s found another guardian.

The moment the pair enters the room that Sehun had guided Kyungsoo to, a large group of people almost literally tackle him to the ground. Kyungsoo, unused to the unruly nature of the other guardians, gives an undignified screech that sends a few of them howling with laughter before he remembers to shut his mouth, blushing hotly.

“I can’t believe that such a prestigious company tolerates ragging by the seniors.” Kyungsoo finds himself huffing indignantly as he dusted the imaginary soot off his clothes moments later, when the group of strangers finally decided that they had enough of the human sandwich. The boy who hadn’t participated in the group pile up is amused, if the look on his face is anything to go by.

“Was he like this before too? I don’t remember him being able to screech like this.”

“That’s only because you weren’t around when Minseok hyung iced his pants that time.” One of the taller boys who had been one of the first to tackle him retorts. Kyungsoo notes his beautiful honey-coloured skin, and he finds himself being rather jealous of it. “His screech was even louder then.”  


“Minseok hyung? Seriously? You might’ve injured his family jewels, you know.” The first boy muses, casting a curious glance at another boy with rather puffy cheeks. The latter blushes a deep shade of red. “It wasn’t that bad...just a _little_ bit of frost. It was his fault he put a hole through the ceiling after all.”

The group does not notice the change in Kyungsoo’s expressions as they continue with their bickering and conversation about topics that were of no interest (and made absolutely no sense) to Kyungsoo. In the end, Kyungsoo rolls his eyes at no one in particular, before quietly slipping out of the room in search of the actual location he was supposed to head to. No one follows him either, and he figures that he was safe for the rest of the day.

They only figure this out a good ten minutes later, after Yifan points out, amused, that the person in question is no longer in the room. Luhan finds him easily, already having tagged his mind so that he would be able to determine where the other boy is, and Jongin grins before disappearing, this time leaving no smoke behind him (he has managed to train himself until the tell-tale wisps of smoke no longer show up when he disappears – at least it proves to be less hectic for the rest of the agency because nobody panics and think that there’s a fire starting when they see the smoke).

Kyungsoo can do nothing but _stare_ the moment the tanned boy suddenly appears in front of him while he’s looking around the corridor that he is walking down. It’s another second later when he finds himself back in the same room they had been in earlier. _Odd_ , Kyungsoo thinks to himself faintly. He’s sure that the room was two floors away. He glances around and sees the same faces and thinks he must be going crazy.

“Sorry,” he mutters, bowing to them “I think I’ve gotten the wrong room.” He leaves the room again, and the rest of the group are just staring at _him_ in disbelief now.

Junmyeon rounds in on Sehun, who found him first, and Jongin, who teleported back with him. “Did you two break him or something?!”

“I haven’t done a single thing to Kyungsoo hyung, unless you count grabbing his wrist a traumatising experience?” Sehun frowns at Junmyeon. He knew that Kyungsoo was slow on the uptake ever since their days on EXO Planet, but the current Kyungsoo definitely takes the cake.

“Maybe you broke his brain with your group tackle earlier.” Yifan remarks dryly. Jongin sticks his tongue out at the older boy childishly.

“By the looks of it, he’s going to be more difficult to tackle than Kris.” Luhan nonchalantly comments. Yifan lets out an indignant whine. “Hey, what do you mean by that?” Luhan’s suddenly angelic smile doesn’t faze the taller boy one bit.

“ _Exactly_ what I meant.”

It takes Yifan all but two seconds to tackle Luhan to the ground.

 

**

 

“So another one joins them. We’re getting closer now, aren’t we?” Youngmin muses as he watches the screens ahead of them. Woojung joins him up front.

“Indeed. This one seems completely oblivious about the things occurring around him, though.” The taller man points out, holding his chin in contemplation. The boy on the screen seemed completely lost in his surroundings, frowning as he tried one door after another in search of his destination.

“Such a disgrace, really. I feel offended by his slow brain activity.” Sooman huffs from behind, earning a quiet chuckle from Youngmin and Woojung. “I wonder if we set our standards too high.”

“Give him some time,” Another man with sharp features and a severe look that could cut anything to shreds chips in. “He’s probably still trying to get his head around the complex itself on the first day. If you count in the fact that he doesn’t have any memories, then it’s completely self-explanatory.” Jisuk hands Woojung a stack of thick folders, and the taller man accepts them with a quiet thanks.

“Why are you guys having fun observing the bunch of kids without bothering to invite me?” Jongmin joins them in a surprisingly calm manner, which catches several of them by surprise. It has been a while since Jongmin is in such control of himself and his deranged mental state after all. The others do not see him as often as Songhyun does, and thus have no idea how docile Jongmin’s behaviour has been as of late.

“Jongmin,” Woojung greets him warily. “I would have thought you would still be asleep at this time.” It’s nowhere close to ten in the morning, and the other man has been known to keep strange hours, and they normally don’t see him around the mansion in the morning; it is always in the evening or the wee hours of night that he makes his presence known, keeping to his previous title.

Four pairs of eyes follows Jongmin as he ambles over to the sofa in the corner of the room and makes himself comfortable on it, his poise reminding them fondly of the Jongmin from the past before everything had happened. “I figured that I should have a change in my lifestyle.” He shrugs nonchalantly. “Why? Am I not allowed to do so?” Jongmin raises an eyebrow in challenge when he catches the hesitancy and distrust in their eyes. Youngmin in particular eyes him sharply, trying to catch even the tiniest nuance of a lie in his every move. What he sees there seems to satisfy him, and his eyes seem more like human eyes, less like razor blades, but just as sharp.

The man’s attention shifts from Jongmin to another man who walks into the room moments later with his hands in his pockets. “Stand down, Youngmin,” the man says. “Don’t be too harsh on him. Jongmin’s been relatively... _docile_ these days so I don’t think you have a cause to worry.”

Songhyun’s easy smile makes Youngmin just that _tad_ more suspicious, but he doesn’t call him out on it. Songhyun is probably the only person that Jongmin listens to willingly these days without any threats on his life. Youngmin and Woojung can intimidate Jongmin without a doubt, but it is apparent to see that Jongmin resents it, and the prison of a mansion that they keep him in.

But Sooman isn’t quite convinced. “Are you two up to something again?”

Songhyun’s smile widens, flashing two rows of even, white teeth. “Now, why would you think that?”

“Just a feeling.” Sooman’s eyes narrow in suspicion. “The changes are too sudden; too drastic to be true. Come on, spit it out. What’s on your minds? I know you’re deliberately blocking our mental communication.”

Songhyun sighs as he strolls over to Jongmin casually, kicking his leg lightly. “What did I tell you?” The other man scowls at him. “Remind me not to tell you anything if espionage is involved. You really suck at it.”

A collective chorus of sighs filled the room. “And here we thought you were a changed man.” Jisuk says, the corner of his mouth pulling up in an annoyed manner.

“You want the short version? That’s easy. I want out of this mansion.” Jongmin states boldly.

“No.” He is instantly shot down by Youngmin, Woojung, and Sooman collectively. Woojung continues on with his reason, knowing that he shared the same sentiments with his two other friends. “How sure can we be that you won’t go around murdering people on the streets? We don’t need any unnecessary attention at the company. We generate enough of it through our groups already, and then there’s the issue with the lawsuit going on.” _We don’t need you to add to it_ is unspoken, but it lingers in the air around them.

“If I swore it on _his_ name, then would you believe me?” Jongmin’s voice is determined and confident as he stares past them at the numerous screens on the wall. The three most powerful men of S.M. Entertainment exchange glances at each other, weighing the severity of his statement and the possible consequences of letting Jongmin out in public for the first time in fifteen years. Jongmin almost never mentioned that other person if he could help it, but when he did, it usually meant that he was serious in keeping his word.

The three watches Jongmin closely for the ghost of a smile, but there was none. He was indeed hell-bent on keeping his promise.

“Alright.” Youngmin finally breathes out. “You’re allowed out of the house, but one of us has to be with you at all times. You step even a toe out of line and you’ll be back in this mansion and you will _never_ be able to leave again.” His eyes narrow threateningly at Jongmin. “Do anything _drastic_ and your life is forfeit.”

Jongmin returns Youngmin’s gaze with an equally intense one. “I won’t. You can be sure of that.”

 

**

 

Half an hour later, Do Kyungsoo still finds himself winding about the corridors, lost. He stares again at his map with his eyebrows furrowed. Wasn’t that turning supposed to have led him to the trainer’s room? Scratching the back of his head, Kyungsoo glances around and tries to pinpoint his location once again, cursing the fact that his surroundings all look the same. How the hell was he supposed to know which room he’s supposed to enter, if none of them are labelled?

“Are you _still_ lost?” Kyungsoo turns in the direction of the voice and finds that it is Oh Sehun, the boy from earlier who had dragged him and promised to show him to his destination, but had ended up bringing him somewhere else which was _so_ not where he was supposed to be. The other boy with honey-coloured skin and an easy smirk on his lips is with him as well, and Kyungsoo wonders just what the hell do they want with him.

“I wouldn’t be lost if you had actually taken me where you _said_ you’d be taking me to.” Kyungsoo says pointedly to Sehun. The taller boy is unfazed as he replies Kyungsoo.

“I thought maybe you’d like to meet some people so that you wouldn’t be so lost. The offer still stands though; I’ll guide you to wherever you need to be – no detours this time, I promise.”

Kyungsoo eyes the pair suspiciously, and then shakes his head. “No thanks, I’ll find the place myself, even if that’s the last thing I do.” He says, making a 180-degree turn and heads down that direction. He hears a chuckle, then someone says: “Hey Kyungsoo hyung, that’s the forbidden wing of the company. You’ll get kicked out from the training programme if you get caught wandering around in the area.” Kyungsoo turns back quickly, wide-eyed and back into the direction where Sehun and his friend were, not missing the grins on their faces.

Kyungsoo scowls at them both. “On second thought... I might need a guide after all.” He grumbles under his breath. The tanned boy wiggles his eyebrows at Sehun and without a word, they both grab Kyungsoo’s arms, and half-drag him as they go.

“It’s this way!”

Kyungsoo suddenly wonders whether he should be thankful or regret that he has been picked to join S.M. Entertainment.

“Hey, I can walk perfectly fine by myself, you know.” Kyungsoo calls up at the pair, who seem to be enjoying every moment of this. He tries to struggle out of their grip, but they were grabbing on so tightly that it actually hurt him more to move than to stay still, and so he does the latter. He sighs in resignation, allowing himself to be pulled along the numerous corridors as he tries to remember the turnings and corners that they’re taking. The few onlookers that they pass in the corridors look on curiously, then wisely stay out of the trio’s way. _They aren’t bad news, are they?_

“So Kyungsoo hyung,” the boy called Sehun speaks up, causing Kyungsoo to crane his neck in order to be able to look at him. “Do you want to hang out with us? I swear it’ll be fun!” Kyungsoo stares at his side profile in an attempt to intimidate the younger boy, but from the way he’s being ignored, it doesn’t seem to be working.

“Is there a specific reason why you’re being so adamant about this?” Kyungsoo retorts finally, not liking the way he was being treated. He’s sure that the two boys called him ‘hyung’, so why isn’t he being given due respect? How did they even know he was older than them anyway? He hasn’t even formally introduced himself, let alone let slip his age.

“Maybe?” The other boy teases, but doesn’t give anything away. “Why don’t you stick with us to find out for yourself? Like Sehun said, it’ll be fun.” Both of them let go of his arms just then, and Kyungsoo blinks. It seems as though they’ve arrived at his destination.

“Thanks, I guess. For taking me here,” he says begrudgingly, and the other two boys smile and wave at him before walking off.

The second boy turns around and calls out to him cheekily. “Don’t worry, Kyungsoo-hyung, we’ll find you even if you don’t come to us!” Kyungsoo makes as if to shake a fist at him, but both Sehun and the other boy are far past the corridor and then around the corner already. He hurriedly puts down his hand when someone opens the door.

“Ah, Do Kyungsoo! We’ve been expecting you! Come on in!”

Kyungsoo has that sinking feeling that this isn’t the last that he will be seeing of those two.

 


	14. {13} grounded

Jongmin walks into the room to find Songhyun poring over a mess of papers with trainee names, while scribbling down notes on a notepad. “What’s all this stuff?” Jongmin inquires, lifting a piece of paper from the pile and scanning it. Songhyun, obviously stressed out, scowls at him and snatches it back from his hands.

“I’m doing the dorm rearrangements. Sooman and Youngmin finally decided that they want to start having the guardians under the same roof, since Do Kyungsoo has entered. It’s a matter of time before the remaining three show up. They want to see if putting them into a dorm together will enhance their abilities, not to mention they’re currently planning a new group. These sorry excuses for guardians will probably be it.” He scans through the paper, then tosses it back into the mess again. Jongmin raises an eyebrow, then takes the paper and puts it on an empty chair instead.

“I doubt you’ll be able to finish everything off if you keep putting all the stuff that you’ve seen already back in the pile. Here, this way it’ll be a bit neater. And you’re less likely to have Sooman yell at you if he walks in on this mess.” The younger man ends with a grin.

Songhyun eyes him wryly. “Why are you never this useful at other times?”

“Hey. I take offense in that.” Jongmin scowls, throwing a light punch at Songhyun’s arm. “I promised to be on my best behaviour after all. It’s best if I stick to it.” He shuffles a few of the papers that Songhyun hands him before he mutters quietly, a bit seriously. “Besides, it helps that there’s something else to do so I don’t keep thinking about _him_ , you know? It helps.”

Songhyun catches Jongmin by surprise when he abandons the stack of paper in his hands and pulls the younger man into a hug, smiling at him as he pulls away. “I honestly respect you for being able to pull through that ordeal. I probably would’ve killed myself or something if Kwangyeol ever...” Songhyun says, his voice catching in his throat as he thought about the possibility. He left his sentence hanging in the end, unable to continue any longer. The younger man shuffles his feet, embarrassed.

“Hyung,” Jongmin calls out, and Songhyun’s eyes widen at the use of the term. None of them really cared much about who was older or younger so they didn’t use the honorifics much amongst themselves, so to hear it coming out of _Jongmin’s_ mouth of all things really meant a lot. “Thanks. Really.”

He pats Jongmin’s hand gently before going back to his stack of papers. “We stick together, for all that we snipe at each other so much.” He hands another few pieces of paper to Jongmin. “Now, back to work, soldier!”

Songhyun feels his heart ease a bit at Jongmin’s genuine laughter.

 

**

 

“Guys! Guys!” Chanyeol bursts into the room, excited, long limbs flailing as Minseok and Yixing trail behind him at a more sedate pace. “Have you heard?”

“Heard what?” Yifan regards them from the mirror. He was fixing his hair in front of it, smoothing down the non-existent kinks in them.

“Is this about the rumour that the dorm arrangements will be changed?” Junmyeon strolls in from the adjacent room, quirking an eyebrow at them. The sweat is trickling down the sides of his face and drenching his shirt, evidently having just finished his dance practice.

Chanyeol’s face falls comically, making the rest of the boys laugh. “Hyung, you ruined my surprise!”

“Except that it isn’t really a surprise.” Jongin quips from the other corner of the room, where he was seated with Luhan. “Most of us have already found out about it a couple of days ago, Chanyeol hyung.”

“And you didn’t think it was important enough to tell me?” The taller boy lies on the floor, spread-eagled and semi-depressed. Yifan drops a towel onto Chanyeol’s face as he walks past, causing the younger boy to flail as he tries to throw it off. “You probably weren’t listening because you were so intent on playing that game on your phone while we were talking about it during supper a few days back.” The older boy quips.

Sehun closes the door behind him as he enters the room. “So, when are they announcing the changes?” He towels his hair roughly before bending down to do a few stretches post-dance routine.

“This afternoon, I think.” Yixing comments, blinking when several pairs of eyes turned upon him. “The announcements will probably be on the noticeboard outside the Head of the Trainee Department’s room, if what I heard is correct.”

“But... it’s already past noon...” Luhan says hesitantly. Jongin immediately bounces on his feet, grinning.

“What are we still doing here? Let’s go already!” The two youngest ones rush out the door the quickest, followed by a long-suffering Yifan, and the rest of the boys shuffle out the door slowly.

They meet Kyungsoo (who had been avoiding them _very diligently_ for the past few weeks) in front of the room as well, his large eyes already boring holes into the list as he scanned for his name. He barely reacts when Jongin loops an arm around his, too busy on finding his name on the list, while the younger boy grins cheekily.

“Hey Kyungsoo hyung, looks like fate has brought us together again,” Jongin comments, raking through his brain to find the cheesiest possible line ever. His grin widens in amusement when Kyungsoo finally realises what was going on, and practically jumps several yards away from Jongin. Luhan and Sehun grin by the side, before pulling Jongin away to join Junmyeon and Yifan who are perusing the lists seriously.

“Kim Jongin, do you not have a better way of greeting someone?” Kyungsoo huffs as he rubs his chest in slow, circular motions to calm his heart down.

“But hyung, I only greet you like that~” Jongin singsongs, then wails in pain a moment later when his cheek gets pinched hard by Junmyeon. “Ow, hyung, that hurts! I’ll be good, please let go of my cheek!” Kyungsoo smiles faintly in thanks at Junmyeon, who smiles back, but not before dragging Jongin away by the ear instead.

“Are they always like that?” Kyungsoo finds himself turning to Sehun, who was watching on in amusement beside him. The younger boy’s lips quirk up as he points to the board. “You’ll find out soon enough, hyung.”

Kyungsoo’s eyes follow the path of Sehun’s fingers and his eyes widen. He finds his own name, followed by another eight more, and with each name he reads off, he thinks he’s going to pass out more and more. _Kim Jongin, Oh Sehun, Luhan, Zhang Yixing, Wu Yifan, Kim Junmyeon, Kim Minseok, Park Chanyeol._

Is this some kind of cruel joke?! It’s just his shit luck to end up in a dorm with the people he had been trying his hardest to avoid for the past few weeks. Kyungsoo quickly searched for the fastest way to jump out of the building, but before he could translate his thoughts into actions, Jongin curls his arms around the older boy’s neck.

“Looks like we’re going to be _housemates_ , hyung,” he says, placing extra emphasis on the word that Kyungsoo didn’t want to hear even if his life depended on it. Kyungsoo’s eyes lock with Luhan’s, and the Chinese boy chuckles slightly when he hears Kyungsoo’s thoughts.

_I’m doomed!_

 

**

 

Kyungsoo swears his head was about to explode from the noise levels in such a cramped up space. He barely saves his own life by sticking close to the wall seconds later, where two other boys sped past him and headed straight for the sofa in the living room, trying to lay claim on it. Their squabbling goes on until a silent Yifan ends up towering over them, and the two boys on the sofa turn their heads in slow motion at the looming shadow, before meekly making space without a word so that there is actually space for Yifan to sit down. Kyungsoo hopes he can learn that one day. It seems awfully useful, the way Yifan effortlessly intimidates them with one look.

“Are you alright?” A gentle voice approaches Kyungsoo from beside him, and Kyungsoo finds Junmyeon smiling at him. Kyungsoo detaches himself from the wall, smiling faintly back at the older boy.

“Yes, thank you, hyung. It’s just that-” Jongin and Sehun are making faces at each other behind Yifan’s back on the sofa now, thinking they are being discreet until Yifan wraps each of them in a headlock with his arms. “I guess I’m still not very used to their... antics? I’m not all that used to it yet, because at home it’s just me and my hyung, and we’re not all that close. This just kind of throws me for a loop.”

“I know how you feel. It was difficult for me to get used to two bickering kids at first, but you’ll learn how to ignore them naturally soon enough.” Junmyeon winks at Kyungsoo, before lowering his head slightly to dodge the piece of cloth which came from nowhere. A dismayed sigh escapes Junmyeon’s lips when he feels the dampness spreading across the length of his collar. Turning his head in the direction where it came from, he spots Luhan mouthing a cheeky ‘sorry!’ at him, while Yixing diligently wipes down the dining table, pretending as though nothing had happened.

“You have an amazing control over your temper,” Kyungsoo clicks his tongue in awe. “I would’ve thrown a fit at them if I were you.”

Junmyeon grins wryly at him. “I’ve had years of practice. If I hadn’t learnt patience with the most troublesome ones, I might’ve gone crazy by now. It sure looks as if it’s going to come in handy now.”

Kyungsoo’s eyes are pleading as he holds Junmyeon’s gaze. “I’m going to depend on you to preserve my mental health from now on, Junmyeon hyung. My life is in your hands,” he says, and then bows at the older boy. Junmyeon chuckles, patting Kyungsoo’s shoulders.

“No need to be so dramatic, Kyungsoo-yah. It’s not that bad.” He takes in the other boy’s wide eyes as a paper aeroplane goes sailing by, followed by a running Chanyeol. “Really.” Minseok follows after, holding on to some bubble wrap, content to be popping the bubbles as he walks into the kitchen without looking up.

“Easy for you to say. You’ve been with them for what? Years?” Kyungsoo sniffs, casting an odd glance at Minseok. He can’t believe that the boy was two years older than him. Junmyeon gives him a knowing look that Kyungsoo isn’t sure he _wants_ to decipher. “Don’t worry, Kyungsoo, you’ll fit right in.”

“I’m not sure if I _want_ to.” The younger boy mutters under his breath, watching as even the usually-calm Yifan wrestles Yixing to the ground.

Junmyeon just laughs and laughs and laughs.

 

**

 

Kyungsoo finds that it’s surprisingly easy to adjust to dorm life with this crazy bunch of people than he ever thought possible. Junmyeon was right when he said that Kyungsoo would fit right in. He manages to carve his own niche into the group, acting more like the mother to all of them. He pulls up Sehun’s blankets when he kicks them away in his sleep; rubs his eyes sleepily as he watches Minseok and his strange habit of sitting in the kitchen with the fridge door open for a good fifteen minutes every night before he disappears into the room he shares with Yifan and Junmyeon; cooks breakfast with a half-asleep Jongin sprawled on the dining table as he whines about food.

It was fairly easy to get into the routine, with them heading to practice together on most days, unless the Chinese members had to attend Korean classes before joining up with the rest. Kyungsoo was already used to the eccentricities of the other members, though he still could not fathom how Jongin could be in one room in the first minute, then disappear altogether within the next. He also finds himself staring at a tattoo or two in the most obvious places ever on the other boys’ skin (like Minseok’s snowflake-shaped one on his neck), but wondered why their trainers have never said anything about it. He had asked Junmyeon about it once, but the other boy had just smiled and told him that he would find out later when he got his.

Kyungsoo still doesn’t understand what Junmyeon means. He hopes that it isn’t some kind of initiation procedure that he has to go through when he begins to be friends with this group of boys. Kyungsoo doesn’t remember ever seeing one on Junmyeon or Yifan’s skin but he has seen Jongin’s one when the younger boy held his hair away from his neck, and Chanyeol’s, when he had been wearing a short T-shirt and baggy jeans.

(He had no idea – or rather, couldn’t fathom – about the powers that the other boys had; if Jongin’s glaringly obvious teleporting in front of him couldn’t get him to bat an eyelid, then nothing short of Chanyeol shifting into a phoenix would yield any reaction either – not that he could actually shift... _yet_.

It cracks Luhan up how Kyungsoo reacts to the smallest, most _normal_ things, but when it comes to the rest of the boys using their powers in front of his eyes, it just goes over his head completely. Perhaps he was trying to convince himself that he was merely hallucinating; Luhan didn’t know, but was very much interested in finding out regardless. They hold back on telling Kyungsoo about his abilities as a guardian simply because of the reaction they would get, and besides, it would be a lot more fun once his abilities actually manifested themselves because he wouldn’t be able to disregard all the powers the other boys displayed.)

Much to Luhan and Jongin’s delight, it doesn’t take much longer before Kyungsoo’s abilities begin manifesting one fine day. They were all tired after a long day’s practice, and boys being boys, they couldn’t give a rat’s ass about the cleanliness of the dorm when all they wanted to do was to take a quick shower and pass out on their beds.

Kyungsoo, though tired, is insistent upon being neat and tidy, and is further irked when he comes out of his room to find some of them passed out all over the sofa and floor, sweaty clothes from training strewn all over the place haphazardly. He fumes as he picks up after them, and throws the clothes into the laundry hamper, the anger slowly building within him. His anger escalates, eyebrow developing a tic when he sees the dirty plates and bowls in the sink that _no one_ seems to have bothered with since breakfast. Kyungsoo mutters angrily under his breath as he washes those too, and then goes out onto the porch to let out some steam without waking the others.

At this time of the night, there’s no way he can scream his frustrations to the sky, so he settles for stamping his feet on the ground instead. What he doesn’t expect is for the wood of the porch to give an ominous cracking sound after he stomps on it. His eyes widen, almost popping out of his head, freaked out and worried. He panics even more when the boys who were previously asleep started stirring in their positions, and congregated around him questioningly soon after, apparently having heard the sound. He curses himself for forgetting to close the sliding door.

Kyungsoo manages to make a mad dive for the dusty tablecloth several metres away and hastily covers the hole in the floor with it. “Hey guys!” He laughs nervously, his eyes darting across the faces of his sleepy friends. “Why are you all awake? Go back to sleep!”

Yifan, unfortunately, is still sharp even though he is half asleep, and stares at the tablecloth intently. “Do Kyungsoo, are you hiding something under that cloth?”

“N-no! Why do you say that, Kris hyung? I was just thinking about having a... a... a picnic! That’s right, I wanted to have a picnic!” Kyungsoo stutters, giving himself a mental slap when the whole idea about having a ‘picnic’ slipped off his tongue. Who the hell goes on a picnic at _midnight_ anyway?

Chanyeol perks up at the mention of food. “Really? Where’s the food? Now that you mention it, I’m rather hungry.” He starts towards the tablecloth, but is stopped by a nervously laughing Kyungsoo. “Ah, the food, it’s still in the kitchen, I haven’t brought it out yet.” He tries to push the taller boy back inside along with the others, who protest at his manhandling. “You know what? Why don’t we all have the picnic inside instead? It’d be better to sit around at a table properly.”

His panic escalates when he sees Junmyeon and Yifan exchanging glances, as if they already _know_. Before he can stop them, the taller boy darts past him in a heartbeat, pulling up the tablecloth from the floor. Kyungsoo cringes at the incredulous look on Yifan’s face.

“Oh _ho_ ,” the voice which Kyungsoo recognises belonged to Jongin cheered, and Kyungsoo finds himself turning towards the younger boy mechanically. The previously sleepy boy was suddenly wide-awake, his eyes sparkling with excitement. “So some _one_ finally discovered his ability.”

“I didn’t even stomp that hard, the wood just cracked and then it became like this and and and-” His eyes get wider and wider as he tries to explain himself to Junmyeon, who is watching him with a knowing smile. “Hyung, I broke the porch!” He wails, and this sends Junmyeon into peals of laughter, while Kyungsoo wrings his hands. “It’s not funny, hyung, what do I do now? I broke company property, they’re going to kick me out of the agency!”

“What’s going on?” A new voice joins them out of the blue, causing all of their backs to become ramrod straight in horror. Because of their preoccupation with teasing Kyungsoo, the boys failed to notice that the dorm manager had entered their dorm after hearing all the commotion at this time of the night. Out of the group, Kyungsoo’s face was the palest. “Why are all of you still awake at this time?” The manager asks again when the boys remained silent.

Kyungsoo lets out a pained yelp when Jongin jabbed his side none too gently, urging him to speak up. “N-nothing hyung! We were just too caught up with chatting.”

The manager tries to glance past Kyungsoo, where the other boys stood in a straight line, seemingly hiding something from view. “Then you wouldn’t mind stepping away from whatever it is that you’re hiding behind your backs now, won’t you?” The boys look at each other in various forms of panic as they carry on their mental conversation through their link. Kyungsoo chews his lip nervously when the manager’s eyes narrow further in suspicion.

“ _Now_ , boys.”

It takes all but one second for the boys to scamper aside before the manager unleashes his anger upon them, and no one wants that to happen. Kyungsoo immediately takes cover behind Chanyeol, hoping that he could be shielded from sight.

The manager rubs his head tiredly as he stares at the nine boys standing meekly in front of him. “Can someone explain why there is suddenly a _hole_ in the middle of the porch outside? Have you not been taught to respect other people’s property and _not_ to vandalise? Which one of you did it?”

Kyungsoo suddenly finds himself pushed out into the spotlight. He turns around and sees Luhan glancing around innocently, and Kyungsoo finally agrees with Yifan’s words: Luhan is an evil incarnate. Unfortunately, Kyungsoo has no time to really glare at the older boy before he whips around to face the manager’s fury. In doing so, he does not notice that Luhan is staring intently at the manager, as if trying to see into his mind.

_You’re going to be fine; just cook up some cock-and-bull story. He’ll buy it,_ Kyungsoo hears Luhan in his head, and he blinks in confusion.

“Um, hyung, I was sitting outside and I thought I saw a termite or something and then I wanted to step on it and then the wood gave way and hyung, you don’t think there’s a huge nest of termites that we could be sitting on right?” Kyungsoo babbles, eyes wide.

The manager frowns a little as he contemplated Kyungsoo’s words. “I’ll get the management side to run a check on the house tomorrow,” he finally says, and Kyungsoo fought the urge to let out a victorious cry. “Now go to bed; I don’t want to be held responsible if you guys are late for practice tomorrow.” Nine pairs of eyes follow his movement until he leaves the porch and heads back inside and they hear the subtle click when he locks his room door before the boys break into cheers.

“Good going, Luhan.” Minseok pats a grinning Luhan on the shoulders. All of the boys slowly file back inside the living room and Kyungsoo, the last one in, pulls the sliding door closed.

“Good going? I nearly _got killed_ because of Luhan hyung!” Kyungsoo cries out indignantly. His knees are wobbling so badly from the pent up nervousness, showing up only now. He sits down on the floor before his legs can decide to give up on him. Junmyeon chuckles as he drapes his arm around Kyungsoo’s shoulders.

“We had it covered, even though you had no idea about it.” He nods to Luhan. “Hyung, I didn’t know you were able to do that. Wasn’t it just communication and linking minds you were able to do?”

Luhan blinks back at him. “I didn’t know either, but I figured it was better if I tried it out rather than let Kyungsoo get kicked out by the agency for his _vandalism_.” The older boy says slyly.

Kyungsoo looks absolutely horror-stricken and appalled at the revelation. “You let me out to _die_ just so you could test things out?!”

“Hyung, you’re so melodramatic.” Jongin drops down on Kyungsoo’s other side while rolling his eyes. “Besides, it worked, didn’t it? You’re still here and all.”

“That still doesn’t explain the hole in the porch!” The older boy all but wails. “I didn’t even stomp that hard! It was a _tiny_ stomp!” Yifan is unsuccessfully hiding a snicker from his place on the sofa.

“Don’t you ever find it weird that Minseok hyung can freeze melted ice cream at any given time, or how Jongin keeps disappearing and reappearing at various corners of the house?” Yixing queries, raising an eyebrow at Kyungsoo. Kyungsoo frowns, and then shakes his head.

“Minseok hyung just knows how to control his body heat and Jongin just... walks really fast sometimes.” He tries to rationalise, but even to his own ears it sounds pretty lame. The alternative seems rather farfetched though. Kyungsoo heaves another sigh. “What is this, actually? I don’t understand _anything_ that has been going on.”

Sehun eyes him expectantly. “I think you have an inkling, hyung, but you just don’t want to say what you _think_ it is, because then it would be too strange, wouldn’t it?”

“We’re... not human, are we?” The words leave a strange taste in his mouth, but he already knows that there is a ring of truth to them. It’s Jongin’s turn this time to look at him, eyes wide.

“Wow, you’re better at this than Kris hyung was, hands down.” A cushion thumps him in the back of the head and he turns to glare at Yifan. “It’s true!”

“I don’t understand how someone can admit that they’re not human so easily!” Yifan argues. Yixing, Minseok and Luhan give him incredulous looks collectively. “Well it isn’t!”

“Yes, well, you’re a _particularly_ special case.” Yixing says airily, easily dodging the cushion that flies in his direction. It hits Minseok in the face instead, and when the guardian of ice lops it back with twice as much force and speed at Yifan, the cushion is frosty and cold, causing the taller boy to drop it hurriedly.

“What the hell, stop abusing your powers unnecessarily!” Yifan yells, spewing silent curses under his breath as he tried to restore the circulation and warmth to his hands.

“Shall I help you heat them up, hyung?” Chanyeol grins cheekily, and Kyungsoo almost faints because _are those flames in the palm of his hands_?! Yifan hurriedly sticks his hands under his thighs to heat them up instead, apprehensive of the damage that Chanyeol would be more than likely to cause.

“Thanks, but no thanks, Firestarter.”

“So... what exactly is my ability? To make holes in the ground?” Kyungsoo asks several moments later. Luhan comes to sit in front of him, grinning.

“That would be oversimplifying it, but, in a sense yes. Your powers are predominantly over the earth. Well, I should also warn you that some intrusive memories will find you soon, so please do try not to scream or freak out when that happens.” From the way Kyungsoo is looking at him, it’s probably a bit too late for that, because he _already_ looks like he’s freaking out.

It looks like it’s going to take quite a bit of time before they can get Kyungsoo to fully embrace his powers.

 


	15. {14} let out the beast

Kyungsoo twists around, feeling somewhat like a human pretzel while trying to see his own tattoo in the mirror which is located on the back side of his thigh. It’s frustrating to see only a part of it, instead of the whole tattoo, especially when it’s located on the underside of his left thigh, close to his butt.

That is when Chanyeol walks past the open door, then does a double take at the sight, eyebrows quirking at Kyungsoo's attempt to see his tattoo. "What are you doing?" He asks, catching Kyungsoo by surprise.

"Trying to see what my tattoo looks like." Kyungsoo mutters, frustrated. “Why are your tattoos on such visible places, and mine’s... _here_?” He continues, waving not-so-subtly in the general direction of his own butt.

Chanyeol bends down to have a closer look, but is swatted away by the other Guardian's hand.

"I didn't ask YOU to look at it! Don't put your head so close to my ass!" Kyungsoo yells at Chanyeol, and quickly lets go of the hem of his boxers to cover up the mark.

Chanyeol grins widely, rolling his eyes. Considering how _certain people_ are so scatter-brained that they would forget to lock the bathroom door at times, there was absolutely nothing the others haven’t seen before. "Well, I can tell you it kind of looks like a mushroom-"

"I DO NOT HAVE A MUSHROOM AS MY TATTOO!"

Jongin and Junmyeon choose that moment to pass by the door, curious at what had caused Kyungsoo’s yelling. Junmyeon’s eyebrows are practically jumping off his forehead, while Jongin snickers, pulling the older boy away.  

“Come on, hyung, I think we’re interrupting _something_ ,” Jongin says, and Junmyeon lets himself be pulled away, speechless, while Kyungsoo opens and closes his mouth like a fish. Chanyeol promptly turns scarlet at Jongin’s comment, and chases after the boy to explain (or to threaten him, whichever works).

When Kyungsoo finally manages to open his mouth again, he leans out the door as he yells down the hallway, “Hyung, it’s not what it looks like!” He promptly gets the fright of his life when he hears Yixing’s voice right behind him.

“What’s not what it looks like?” The older boy looks at him a bit sleepily, having just had a nap.

“Yi-Yixing hyung! It’s nothing! Really!” Kyungsoo laughs nervously, waving a little too frantically to appear normal.

Yifan walks past, muttering under his breath as he bumps Kyungsoo out of the doorway. “That’s _really_ not what it sounds like though.” The younger boy wails as Yifan closes the door in his face.

“Kris hyung! You’re not helping!”

“I didn’t say I was trying to help!” Kris yells from the other side of the door, and his voice is followed by the steady rush of water coming from the tap seconds later. There is a short pause, then: “Hey Yixing, if you’re wondering, he’s curious about that tattoo on the underside of his asscheek!”

Kyungsoo slumps onto the floor in a defeated heap of limbs, regretting for the umpteenth time that he had given in to Jongin and Luhan’s numerous offers to help him train his powers. If he hadn’t mastered it so soon, then he wouldn’t have had to deal with the tattoo being in the _most awkward place ever_. And no, he did not buy the hypothesis offered by Junmyeon; the older boy had suggested that it might’ve appeared there because it was closer to the ground and correlated with his powers (Kyungsoo knows that Junmyeon was just trying to cheer him up). Luhan’s mark on his ankle would provide a far closer proximity to the ground than anything else, so _what the hell_.

Jongin, the cheeky one, said that it might have to do with his earthy powers being _earthy_ , and he should thank his lucky stars that it’s not on other... areas. He gets a good knuckle on the head for being perverted, and Junmyeon makes him stand in the corner by himself without ice cream on a particularly hot day while he watches the others enjoy theirs.

“Don’t worry about it, Kyungsoo. You’ll get to see it for yourself if you’d just bend over a little more.” Yixing comments nonchalantly and walks away after patting him gently on the head, causing Kyungsoo to groan even louder because _that wasn’t the whole point_. He actually feels miserable because they seem to be teasing him much, _much_ more than they did on EXO Planet. (At least from what he can remember from it anyway. Kyungsoo seems to remember the times when he gets teased by the other guardians the most for some reason. Luhan jokes that he must be a masochist since he remembers those times _so clearly_. Kyungsoo feels like decking his hyung.)

Kyungsoo jumps out of his skin for the millionth time that day when Sehun’s voice suddenly came from behind. “Hey, Kyungsoo hyung, we’re heading out for a day trip soon. Are you coming, or do you plan on sulking on the floor until... whenever you’re done?”

The older boy huffs slightly, dusting himself off as he gets up from the ground, “I’m not sulking!” This makes Sehun grin slightly.

“Sure, whatever you say hyung.”

 

**

 

“Did I just hear that correctly?” Songhyun gasps, eyes wide open in wonder. “ _You_ want us to do something to them?”

Youngmin rolls his eyes at Songhyun. “Do I have to repeat myself for a million times? Yes, Songhyun, I need your help to manipulate some gullible minds.” He says as dramatically and as sarcastically as possible. “Try not to be so obvious that you’re jumping in joy, both of you.”

(Jongmin had been doing a little jig behind Youngmin’s back, which the older man could see reflected in the glass windows.)

“I can’t help it!” Jongmin replies, a childish grin on his face as he walked over to Songhyun’s side. “This _is_ the first time that we’ve actually been allowed to do anything of the sort by you guys, so you’ll need to excuse us.”

“So. What _is_ it that you need us to do anyway?” Songhyun drums his fingers against the tabletop as he regards Youngmin, ignoring Jongmin who is twirling around in the swivel chair next to his.

“My requirements aren’t stringent. As long as you get someone to give these kids-” Youngmin pauses as he waves a hand across the screens splayed out in front of them. “-a little scare, and get them to push things into motion themselves, then it’ll be fine.”

“... And this is a decision from you alone, or...?” Jongmin prompts with deep interest, holding down Youngmin’s gaze with his sharp eyes.

Youngmin doesn’t even flinch. “It has been discussed with Sooman and Woojung. Once the remaining three are found, they’ll be put out as a group. The rumour mill has already started itself.”

“Oops! I might have had a hand in that,” Songhyun says not-too-guiltily.

Youngmin sighs noisily and rubs at his temples. “Why am I even surprised anymore?”

“Judging by the slow progress these kids are making, I had to create some sparks to get them to move.” The older man replies with a smirk. “In any case, how far can we go with the ‘pushing’ this time? Because I have loads of ideas and I’m itching to test them out, one by one.”

Youngmin leans forward across the table, a devious smirk on his face. “I’m sure you’ll enjoy it. You haven’t had the chance to actually use your illusions for a long time since you made the ones we have stick to us, and modify them as we supposedly grow older, have you?”

Songhyun nods slowly at this, trying to see where Youngmin is heading with this. He frowns when he receives a rough outline of Youngmin’s plans in his head, though the smile gradually grows wider on his face as the images played out by themselves.

“ _Perfect_ ,” Songhyun exclaims moments later, ignoring how Jongmin was sending him questioning looks from the side. “I have the perfect things to execute this.”

“Just don’t overdo it with your plans, Songhyun. None of us wants them hurt, or worse, _killed_ before we can do anything else.” Youngmin warns; Songhyun could get carried away fairly easily once he gets too excited, and if Jongmin was added into the equation, it could get out of hand even faster. Sooman and Woojung may not see it, but putting Songhyun and Jongmin together could prove to be the deadliest decision ever to be made.

Over the years, since _he_ was lost, the only person who could coax Jongmin out of his pain and misery had been Songhyun. He had stayed with Jongmin during those first few painful years when he had refused to speak to any of them, and the raw dependence of the younger one on Songhyun had been so painful to look at. That the only semblance of ‘normal behaviour’ – if it could even be called that – Jongmin could display after that had been anger and outrageous temper tantrums. Regardless whether Songhyun had used some _help_ to calm Jongmin down, he was still doing a good enough job to stop Jongmin from doing anything stupid – to himself, or to the others around him.

Kwangyeol, for all that he was in a relationship with Songhyun, could at least be counted on to take orders seriously and be more down to earth after the incidents that transpired, but Songhyun was always a bit more restless after he had absorbed the extra gift. It was as though some part of _his_ personality had been embedded in him and caused him unnecessary confusion. Whatever the case, Youngmin has always kept an extra eye on the two of them. As busy as he may be with running the company, Youngmin didn’t think that he would allow himself to live it down if _anything_ were to happen to the pair under his watchful eyes.

“You don’t have to worry, Youngmin.” Songhyun’s voice cuts through his thoughts moments later, obviously having infiltrated his mind without permission _again_ , but Youngmin isn’t in the mood to retaliate against that. The older man’s voice drops into a low hush as he reassures Youngmin. “I’ll keep Jongmin close to me at all times.”

Youngmin meets his eyes squarely. _And that is_ exactly _what I worry about._ Songhyun laughs.

 

**

 

It is nearing the middle of winter, and the nights are becoming bitterly cold. Jongin and Minseok walk briskly as every breath puffs into the air like curls of smoke. The rest of the boys had left earlier back to the dorms, while Jongin and Minseok were practising and giving some of the other trainees some tips after practice. By the time the two were finally ready to head home, the exhaustion seems to have gotten the better of Jongin, and no matter how much he tried, he couldn’t teleport himself and Minseok back to the dorms. The subway was already closed, so they were planning on maybe just finding one of the nearby 24-hour convenience stores to grab some food before Jongin tried to teleport them again.

“The temperature tonight is crazy,” Jongin sniffs as he stuffs two hot dogs into the microwave oven and hits the ‘start’ button, warming his hands with the heat radiating off the sides of the electrical appliance in the meantime. Minseok hums in agreement as he goes through the selection of warm canned drinks the outlet has, finally settling on a can of black coffee for himself and a _yuja-cha_ for Jongin. The older boy snags a table for them and nods in thanks when Jongin slides one of the hot dogs in front of him.

“At this rate, it’s probably going to be one of the coldest winters we’ve ever had,” Minseok muses as he bites into the bread. He makes a contented noise when the warm ball of food finds its way into his stomach, realising for the first time that night how hungry he actually is. “Did you tell Luhan already that we’d be late?” He mumbles, the thought just occurring to him.

Jongin nods, mouth too full of food to answer verbally, so he does so mentally. _Yeah, I told him already. I told them not to wait up too, but apparently Junmyeon hyung seemed a bit edgy tonight, so both of them might be waiting up for us. Everyone else has pretty much passed out already._

_I am_ not _edgy._ Junmyeon’s pouty voice joins in the conversation. _I’m just worried about your safety. Where_ are _you guys anyway?_

_We’re at the convenience store near the agency._ Minseok answers before Jongin can aggravate Junmyeon with another smart aleck answer. _Just eating some stuff before we try teleporting because Jongin was a bit too tired earlier._ The younger boy scowls at him for revealing that information, but Minseok stares back sternly, giving him the they-need-to-know look.

_Odd, are you really that exhausted, Jongin?_  Luhan asks warily, evidently surprised by the revelation. _It’s usually not a problem for you to phase even if you’re dead tired from our crazy practising schedules._

_I’m probably just really tired and hungry, I guess_ , Jongin hedges. _Both of you should go to sleep; we’ll be back soon enough. Don’t stay up just for us._

_No,_ Luhan grounds out. _We’re not going to bed until you make it back to the dorms in one piece. So hurry up and get your asses back here._ Jongin grumbles slightly but acquiesces soon enough to Luhan’s demand.

_Alright, already. If you’re asleep when we get back I’m going to teleport you in your pyjamas out onto the porch and lock you out!_ The older boy gives him the mental equivalent of a flip-off, of which Jongin retorts to by sticking his tongue out in his mind.

“We better get moving before the weather gets any colder than this.” Minseok suggests as he tosses the wrapper and his newly-emptied coffee can into the bin, pretending as though their mental conversation had never taken place at all. They were becoming pros at communicating with each other in their minds without making weird faces in public; many embarrassing and awkward situations had entailed when they were still new to it. Jongin follows suit and tosses his trash into the bin before exiting the store.

Minseok was already halfway across the road when Jongin emerged from the store, and when the younger boy was about to jog up to Minseok, a car suddenly speeds past him, catching him off-guard. Jongin’s phasing powers manages to kick into action just in the nick of time, and he propels himself backwards to safety. However, when Jongin regains his footing and bearings, Minseok was no longer in sight. Frowning, Jongin makes an attempt to growl at Minseok in his head for leaving him behind, but no matter what he did, it did not seem to work. The uneasiness grew in his chest; his abilities had failed for the second time that day, and it is by no means a good sign.

He tries to contact the others instead, and the weight in his stomach further solidifies when there is no answer from either Luhan or Junmyeon. Just then, some movement at the corner of his eyes catches his attention, and Jongin rejoices when he finds Minseok walking down the other side of the street.

“Hyung!” He calls out, and jogs over to join him. “Where did you go?” Jongin stares oddly at Minseok’s back when the older boy doesn’t even respond to him. Instead, Minseok picks up his speed, and continues heading in the complete opposite direction from where their dorms were supposed to be. “Hyung!” Jongin calls out again. The uneasy feeling returns with a vengeance as he runs after Minseok.

What the hell was going on?

 

\---

 

Minseok takes in desperate gasps of breath as he runs down the deserted streets, trying to keep up with the boy who is walking ahead of him.

“Jongin, wait up!” He calls out, but the younger boy just keeps walking, as though he hadn’t heard Minseok at all.

Earlier on, Minseok had stepped out of the convenience store first and opted to wait for Jongin outside, as he felt slightly more at ease in the cold; it was a good opportunity for him to practice his abilities without appearing out of place. However, while Minseok was completely absorbed in making snowflakes fall from the tips of his fingers, he caught Jongin breezing past him without uttering a single word to him. Minseok had initially thought that Jongin was upset for _god-knows-what_ reason, and was throwing a silent tantrum at him, so Minseok opted to follow him wordlessly until Jongin’s temper fizzled out.

And then the boy suddenly picked up his speed, causing Minseok to stumble after him in order to match his pace which seemed to get faster with each step that Jongin took.

Eventually, Minseok had to break out into an all-out run in order to keep up with the younger boy. He is no stranger to running, considering the amount of stamina training they had received so that they can dance for numerous hours on end, but the speed at which he was running at is not something that he could maintain for long periods of time. Minseok curses inwardly, telling himself that he’ll need to pick up more hours in the gym on the treadmill to boost his stamina after this. The distance between him and Jongin is increasing while Minseok calls out for the younger boy, until Minseok can run no further way because of the pain of that lances through his overexerted leg muscles.  

Minseok finally gives up on running when his legs nearly gave way under him, doubling over to catch his breath as he stares at Jongin’s still-running form. That is when he realises that Jongin had led them into an unfamiliar part of town. Rather, it would be more accurate to say that Minseok had no idea where the hell he was. Worry digs into his being. How were they going to get back to the dorms if Jongin’s power didn’t work again? There is no way of knowing where they were, and the weather is getting colder and colder.

The panic rises in his throat when Jongin disappears completely, nowhere in sight. He desperately tries to call out for the younger boy in his mind, but all that he hears is complete, solitary silence. It eerily reminds him of the time when they could not establish a connection with Kris and Chanyeol on EXO Planet, and he _prayed to God_ that it wasn’t a repeat of that situation. It would mean deep trouble for the guardians in general, because a large majority of them still have not mastered their abilities yet – himself included. Besides, they were missing three guardians – guardians who gave a great boost when they had to be on the offense.

Not to mention that if they lose Jongin because of this, Luhan would be devastated, and Minseok would feel guilty for the rest of his life for not sticking close enough to the boy. In a final, desperate attempt, Minseok calls out for Jongin again in his mind, forcing his words through everyone else’s consciousness to alert them about the situation.

_Guys, can you hear me? I can’t contact Jongin! Jongin, can you hear me? Help, please!_

There is a long moment of silence where Minseok waits with bated breath while he tries to even out his racing pulse. Then Luhan’s voice breaks through the silence suddenly.

_-seok? Minseok? Can you hear me?_ The other guardian’s mental voice is worried and slightly frantic. _Did something happen? My connection to the both of you was suddenly wiped out! Where are the both of you? It’s so late already!_

_I don’t know! I was running after Jongin, and he just..._ disappeared _into thin air, and I really have no idea where the hell am I right now! Can you get to him?_ Minseok half-yells back, as he jogs down the street in search of Jongin. A shiver of terror runs down his spine when huge spotlights suddenly shine on him from behind, and he turns to see two cars coming at high speed, charging _towards him_.

_Bloody hell!_ Minseok swears in his mind as he stands frozen for a moment, before his body breaks into a fast run because the cars are _not slowing down_ , the screech of tires on the asphalt and revving of the engines boosting his adrenaline. He takes a sharp turn into a small alleyway, nearly losing his balance in the process, and hoped that he could shake these maniacs off. Contrary to his expectations, however, the cars continued chasing after him in a single file. The screeching of metal against brick walls sliced through the quiet night, and continuously assaults Minseok’s ears because they were so damned close. He doesn’t even spare a moment to turn around and look because he might lose speed if he does, and getting flattened by maniacs pre-debut is _not_ on his list of things to do before he dies. He certainly does not plan on getting killed so soon, either.

_Minseok_! He can hear Luhan calling out in his mind again, but doesn’t have time to answer him and he hurls the images at the younger guardian instead as he continues running. Panicked cries from the other guardians started filtering into his mind, distracting Minseok greatly. While he tries to block them out to concentrate on making his escape, Minseok unexpectedly collides with someone else who happened to be crossing the mouth of the alley, sending the both of them sprawling onto the ground.

“Ow, I’m sorry but- hyung! Hyung, what were you running so fast for?!” The familiar voice that belongs to Jongin filters into his consciousness. Minseok blinks, finding his limbs entangled with Jongin’s all of a sudden, before he hurriedly pulls the younger guardian to his feet.

“Are you the real Jongin, or are you an illusion?” Minseok grabs him by his shoulders as he casts frantic looks towards his left, where the headlights of the cars were beginning to grow brighter.

“Are _you_ the real Minseok hyung I know or not?! Quick, what’s the safe word?” The younger guardian shakes him back, eyes wide and frenzied.

“Supercalif- Supercapieli-” Minseok tries to recall the newest password, but keeps stumbling all over it because _fuck_ he was panicking to the ends of the universe and no he can’t remember how the hell he should pronounce it. In the end, he throws his hands up into the air in defeat. “OH FOR FUCK’S SAKE I CAN’T PRONOUNCE THAT STUPID WORD RIGHT NOW JUST GET US OUT OF HERE WILL YOU?!”

Jongin laughs weakly in reply as he phases the both of them away, thankful that his powers are finally working. When they reappear in the dorms, the rest of the guardians are there and the two guardians practically collapse on the floor right away, temporarily losing their consciousness.

The last thing Jongin hears before succumbing to the darkness is Luhan’s frantic yelling of his name.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FYI, their safe word is Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious, lmao.
> 
> Also, this chapter was inspired by their pre-debut teaser. (Teaser #11)


	16. {15} TURNBACK: Initiation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> filler chapter!

** Time Unknown, EXO planet **

 

“I bid the twelve guardians to come forth.” The head priest’s voice booms and reverberates off the stone walls of the Initiation Hall, the echo lingering long after the last syllable has left his lips. Yixing adjusts the hood of his robes, pulling it further forward over his head so that it won’t fall off during the ceremony, but not so far that it falls into his face either. The anxiety and excitement that is milling in his heart is not reflected on his face; it’s just the way he is, and it is also something that he has been teased for because people never know whether he is being serious or not just by his facial expressions alone.

He glances around and takes in his surroundings, where only a scant number of people were congregated in the hall along with him. Eleven other hooded figures with white porcelain masks, and their closest family members. He had initially anticipated a larger ceremony to celebrate the discovery of the guardians, but apparently he thought wrong. Yixing makes a mental note to ask about it when the ceremony is over.

Yixing steps up to the edge of the circle, just as they had rehearsed numerous times; all twelve of them move in sync, their posture ramrod straight. He bows slightly with the others moments later, when the head priest starts to speak again. “I am sure that the twelve of you know about the reason behind your presence in this very hall. I also know that some of you have running queries about the scale of our celebrations,” the old man says, casting his gaze at Yixing. He stiffens slightly.

“The twelve of you have been chosen to become this planet’s guardians, and you should treat your status as a guardian with honour and respect. Regardless of race, skin colour, gender or social background, the planet itself has chosen you to be its guardians and to protect the Tree of Life which sustains, and is the embodiment of this planet’s life source.” The head priest looks at each of the other eleven robed figures in turn as he speaks. Yixing is curious about the other eleven almost-guardians, because although they have been called together numerous times to practice for the initiation ceremony, they have yet to see each other’s faces and thus, do not know each other’s identities. There have always been porcelain masks and robes involved, and it is no different for the actual ceremony today.

“However, there is one simple rule that you _have_ to observe at all times. You must never reveal your identities as the guardians of this planet to anyone else. This shall be a secret kept within these sacred walls, and within the hearts and minds of the people who are present here today. We, the high priests of EXO Planet, do not wish for your souls to be corrupted by outside influence, as it will be detrimental to the health of the Tree of Life.”

“Your training as the guardians of the planet will begin after the ceremony, and only then will you reveal your identities to each other. Know this: your fellow guardians are your siblings, your family, and the bond between you is stronger than you can fathom. From this day forth, you will have no other outside influences, and you will be set apart from the rest of the population until you are deemed fit to return. Be warned that the training will be tough, at times hazardous and gruelling, but we have high hopes that you will pull through this as your ancestors and predecessors have.” Yixing feels his fingers curling into fists, the determination running through him. There is no way he would be failing this; there is no questioning his willingness to take on the heavy responsibility of a planet’s life force, and he hopes his fellow guardians feels the same way.

The head priest continues. “This ceremony will mark each of you physically as a guardian, and it will be visible to each of you on a normal basis. Other people will be unable to see it, unless you are using your powers, and we will remind you that you are _highly discouraged_ to utilise your powers in public view, unless it is for a good cause.”

Yixing was beginning to wonder how these marks would be embedded on them, when the head priest gives a wave of his hand as a silent command. His eyes widens in tandem when a brandisher is brought out into the open space.

“Each one of you will take your turn to come up to the brandisher, and lay your hands upon it.” The head priest begins to explain, as though he is able to read Yixing’s thoughts. “The brandisher will be able to determine the powers you have been imbued with and the mark shall manifest upon your skin accordingly. It will not hurt, unless you have lesser-than-pure intentions of being a guardian. Once you have been marked, you will be unable to forfeit your status as a guardian, unless you choose the path of death. Over the past year, we have already advised you to think deeply and carefully about your destiny, and now the moment of reckoning is upon you. Choose now if you wish to rescind the fate of being a guardian.” He pauses, watching each of the robed figures for a reaction.

None of the robed figures even move an inch in the heavy silence, and Yixing feels strangely proud.

A bell rings three times in succession, the echoes etching themselves deep into Yixing’s bones and he knows that there is no turning back now.

“So it has been decided, and so it shall be.” The head priest intones, and the initiation ceremony begins in earnest. A shiver runs down Yixing’s spine when the other priests began chanting, initially in a low voice but building up in strength and momentum. The guardians, however, remains silent with their heads bowed low, as they receive the blessings and mandate from their Protectors above. They would later join in the chanting. It was a necessary ritual, Yixing was told; it wasn’t mere symbolism, but also an assurance and oath taken by the guardians, swearing their lives on the sustenance of the land they called their home.

The chanting never decreases in volume even when the head priest calls out their names. “Kai, step forward before the brandisher and take your guardian mark.” One of the robed figures from the other side of the room enters the circle, and steps up to the brandisher. The guardian called Kai pulls down his hood and porcelain mask, revealing his face for the first time. Yixing notes him to be a boy not more than fifteen. The boy lays his hands above the brandisher for a few moments, and then the head priest nods his head for him to remove his hands from it. He takes the heavy metal object and presses it to the skin of Kai’s wrist.

True to the head priest’s words, the brandishing process did not seem to hurt Kai. The boy’s face remained emotionless as the metal grazes across his skin, only moving when something seemed to itch at the back of his neck. When Kai pushed up the tuft of hair, Yixing notices the fresh mark there. Kai bows to the head priest, then steps back.

“We welcome you, Guardian Kai, as a Protector of EXO Planet. May you use your powers wisely and with good intent, for the good of the planet at all times.” This is echoed by the other guardians-to-be in the circle, and a few of the priests who were not in charge of the chanting.

The same lines were repeated for each guardian that stepped up. The first five guardians who go before him seems to be from Central District, given that they do not have surnames unlike himself, who comes from the Northern Planes. He finds himself slightly surprised when the head priest calls for “Wu Yifan”, who happened to live on the same street as him, but they do not know each other very well. It is here that the lines start to deviate from the previous guardians who were initiated.

Yixing watches as Yifan shifts his shoulders slightly after his turn at the brandisher, before the head priest intones, “Wu Yifan, you will be henceforth known as the Guardian Kris, and it is the name you will be addressed by. We welcome you, Guardian Kris, as a Protector of EXO planet. May you use your powers wisely and with good intent, for the good of the planet at all times.”

Another boy, Lu Han, from the Northern Planes is called up, but his guardian name doesn’t change, and Yixing finds himself slightly puzzled. A boy named Zitao has his name shortened to Tao. Do Kyungsoo, a local of the Southern Planes, has his guardian name shortened to D.O., and Kim Jongdae is similarly given the name of Chen. Yixing is the last of the guardians to be called up, and he was renamed Lay; which frankly, Yixing thinks as he traces his finger over the tattoo which appeared along his jawline, would take a long time to get used to.

“Twelve guardians have been nominated, and twelve guardians have accepted their responsibilities for the planet and the Tree of Life. Guardians, please put your hoods and masks back on.” Yixing – _Lay_ , he reminds himself firmly – does as requested, and he watches the other eleven boys do the same. “This is the first, and only time you will be seen in the public eye, and none shall know of your identities otherwise.” The chanting has faded away, and the mysterious bell tolls three times once again. The other priests shuffle away, and their family members are ushered elsewhere, leaving only the twelve and the head priest within the stone chamber. Yixing manages to catch the last glimpse of his mother for the last time in a long while, smiling at her even though she could not see it behind his mask. Then she was gone.

“As tradition goes, you will receive intense training to ensure that your abilities are up to par, before you officially take over the duties of your predecessors. Brace yourselves.” The head priest intones, and then he pushes forward the heavy wooden doors, letting in a sudden stream of sunlight that makes Lay squint before he gets accustomed to it. There is a dull roar in his ears but he quickly realises that it is the sound of the masses who have assembled to see the newly appointed guardians. The twelve of them stand in a line behind the head priest, right hand gripping their left wrist, heads held high and backs straight against the roar of the crowd.

“People of EXO Planet,” The head priest booms, his voice projecting across the square, and quiets the people. “Your new guardians stand before you today, pledged to protect you, the people and the very life force of the planet.” He gestures behind his back for them to step forward, and they do so in sync. That one step brings Lay closer to the stone wall and his eyes widen behind his mask at the sheer number of people there. He never thought that there would be so many who would come to see the new guardians that were chosen. Then again, the last ceremony was over forty years ago so he wouldn’t have known what it was like back then either.

“I give you your new guardians!” The head priest booms again, and the mass of people roar in delight as the guardians bow together for a long moment, and the people return the gesture by bowing back.

The sight and the sound of it is something that Yixing vows he will never, ever forget in his life.

 

**

 

Training is, indeed gruelling. The guardians were expected to complete a series of obstacle challenges at the end of their training period, and before they could do so, they required a stamina boost and an upgrade in their reflexes. That was the most difficult part of all, as they would be dragged out of bed before the crack of dawn, and were expected to complete a ten-kilometre run in order to be able to win themselves breakfast, only to be followed by more endurance trainings and lessons in combat skills. Their trainers had told them that close-ranged combat skills would _definitely_ come into handy, as they couldn’t always rely on their powers alone.

Kai and Luhan have struck up a fast friendship, and look to be the most confident out of the twelve of them, for all that they may be younger. Lay finds that he himself bonds well with Kris, Xiumin, and Chen the most, although on a general basis, they all get along swimmingly. Chanyeol and Baekhyun made the most uncanny pair, though Lay could see why they clicked so well as the days passed. They were a playful bunch, to say the least. The younger ones are the most mischievous bunch, and Suho tries – and fails most of the time – to keep them in line. At that particular moment, Kris would walk up to them with a quiet stare, and everyone would sink into silence at once.

Then again, Kris isn’t always that scary, as Lay had learned. The older boy is actually quite approachable in private, given that one: he had his fair share of sleep, and two: he wasn’t in a bad mood. In fact, Lay finds himself enjoying Kris’ company more often than not, the two of them occasionally sharing their life stories until late into the night. It is ironic, however, considering how they hailed from the same neighbourhood but have never exchanged anything more than a polite greeting when they crossed each other’s paths.

Tao sticks to Kris like glue most of the time and it is rather endearing, Lay thinks. Despite his tough outer appearance (helped by the fact that he was already good at martial arts), Tao is quite the soft-spoken person. The first few times Lay had crossed paths with the younger boy, he seemed to glare at him the whole time, but once he was reassured that Lay had no intentions to monopolise his time with Kris, the other guardian backs off and his demeanour is a lot nicer. In fact, Tao now sticks as much to Lay as he does to Kris, which amuses the tallest guardian to no end.

D.O. – or as Lay prefers to call him, Kyungsoo – with his bulging eyes and seemingly always confused looks was the most unexpected character. He proved to be one of the sharpest persons around (though Yixing isn’t the best person to comment on that, what with his slow reactions half the time), and was hilarious without trying to be. He tended to gravitate towards Baekhyun and Chanyeol a lot and when all three of them were put together, you could be assured that there would be chaos.

All twelve guardians went through six tiring months to build up their physical strength and combat skills, and just when they began to wonder whether they were going to receive help in terms of their powers, they were thrown into it without warning. It began in a subtle manner, having various situations thrown into the mix while they were doing their physical training. They didn’t have a single clue that they were being tested, until one day when a fireball was suddenly launched at them out of nowhere. Suho, thankfully, managed to parry the impending flames with a large volume of water.

That is when they discovered the other guardians’ abilities, too. It turns out that they had each received a private, stern warning to not utilise their powers during their physical training sessions, and no one ended up talking about it. Obviously each of them respected that ruling well. The priests divide them into pairs after that; Kai and Luhan, Suho and Xiumin, Chen and Kyungsoo, Lay and Baekhyun, Sehun and Tao, and Chanyeol and Kris. Their powers were apparently interrelated to the other, and could be amplified if they were to use it at the same time. This doesn’t stop all twelve of them from gathering frequently, and sharing what they’ve learnt during their lessons with each other. They find that they could apply some of the techniques from one pair, to strengthen that of another, and the bonds between them grow stronger until they are like one large, functional family (which, Lay believes, is rather true).

Eventually, their bond and mutual understanding develops to the point where one look was all that was required for them to understand what the other person intended to do or say. They developed attacking strategies in that manner, and communicated through their interconnected mind channels if the need arises. The priests sometimes watched them sparring against each other in awe because they flowed together so well, so cohesive and so _artistic._ Unbeknownst to the boys, they were touted as what could be the strongest group of guardians in the history of EXO Planet. No other generation of guardians had bonded so quickly with each other and were able to work so well, even if they had opposing powers. It is a good thing that the guardians were more or less similar in terms of age, thus eliminating the generation gap completely.

Guardians of opposing elements, such as Chanyeol’s fire and Suho’s water, for example, had been documented in the scriptures as being extremely wary, at times even mistrusting of each other, and never really bonded as well as they did with guardians who had similar or interrelated affinities. Baekhyun and Kai get along swimmingly, for all that they were predominantly light and shadow elements (and much to the consternation of the priests, are the most mischievous when they are put together – no priest wants to be dazzled by light one moment, and tickled by shadows the next).

Lay finds himself a bit bummed at first that his power was more of a non-combat type, but Luhan quickly assures him that he is essential in guaranteeing the survival of the group as a whole. In combat, it was inevitable that someone would get hurt, and Lay was the perfect candidate to intercept when the situation arises. It is a pity that Lay is unable to heal himself, though. Suho makes up for it when they discover that if they both utilise their powers together, they are able to come up with water that heals. It isn’t instant, like the way Lay’s powers work, but when Chanyeol burnt himself once, they tried the technique on him instead of Lay’s healing, and the burn healed up a lot faster than it normally would on its own.

To make up for his non-combat power, Lay trains a lot with Tao, who turns out to have been a martial artist previously in one of the lesser-known villages in the Northern Planes, and he finds that his reflexes are a lot faster, the hits he lands more capable of leaving a lasting mark – even though Tao has a tendency to freeze him in mid-air _a lot_ , especially when he’s trying to do a flying kick. Lay secretly thinks that the younger boy is trying to get back at him for hanging around Kris way too frequently for Tao’s liking.

(Friend or not, it seems that Tao is still jealous of anyone who hangs out a lot around Kris. This doesn’t seem to bother Chanyeol at all when Tao gives him the evil eye though, but Lay thinks this is because the fire guardian is more prone to hang around Baekhyun than anything.)

Finally, four years after they have started their training, the priests deem that they are fit to re-join the general populace. They emerge much stronger, much more matured than they had initially been, and with superior abilities that they could be proud of.

Seeing the people that they have been tasked to protect, the richness of the land and the beauty of their planet fills Lay with a strange sort of pride, a fierce protectiveness that he would fight tooth and nail to preserve this peace. This sentiment is echoed by the other eleven guardians in their mind bond and Yixing is sure they will succeed.

This is the beginning of their ultimate destiny.

 


	17. {16} slow motion

The atmosphere in the dorm is uncharacteristically heavy and solemn that morning. When Jongin and Minseok had finally woken up and told them of what had happened, Luhan and Junmyeon had paled, their expressions becoming extremely worried. Even though there was no proper explanation for the situation they had faced, Luhan somehow felt that _someone_ _knew_ they were the reincarnated guardians of EXO Planet. It would be impossible for someone unknown to _want_ to run Jongin and Minseok over, right?

Jongin manages to catch on to Luhan’s thoughts, and he nudges the older boy lightly with his shoulder. “Hyung... It might’ve been those psychopaths who wanted to murder me for getting them expelled from SM.”

Luhan frowns. “That still doesn’t explain why we were blocked off from each other mentally even for that short period of time. This smacks of too much of what happened back on EXO planet when Chanyeol and Kris were blocked off from us.” He bites his lip, dwelling on whether he should put his misgivings into words now. He makes a split-second decision at Jongin’s hesitant nod.

“There’s someone, or some _ones_ here on Earth that must know who we are and are trying to retaliate. It can’t be a coincidence that they knew exactly where Minseok and Jongin were and were able to block off their minds from the rest of us at the same time. There’s something more at work here.”

“But the bigger question would be: _why_ are they doing this?” Junmyeon proposes, earning murmurs of agreement from the rest of the guardians.

“I’d place a safe bet that they’re aiming for whatever it is they had wanted to get their hands on when we were on EXO Planet,” Kris mumbles, his forehead frowned in concentration. He is still trying to uncover that lost chunk of memories in his mind; whoever that had taken control of his consciousness on their original planet had left a gaping hole in his head, and he sort of _hates_ it now.

Yixing sits up suddenly, the realisation dancing in his eyes. “The Tree of Life. That must be it.” He looks at Luhan and Jongin. “Where is it anyway? Both of you took the roots right? Do you still have it with you?” The two guardians in question shake their heads, and Yixing deflates.

“It must have merged into some other object or something when we arrived on Earth. From what we can feel, the pieces of the Tree must be somewhere within the agency, and that’s probably why all of us eventually end up showing up at SM Entertainment itself.” Luhan explains.

“That’s a plausible explanation on why we’re all here.” Kyungsoo nods in agreement. “But if that’s the case, what’s taking so long for Baekhyun, Zitao, and Jongdae to appear?”

“Either something’s blocking them from the pull... or they’re just too dense.” Jongin theorizes jokingly, and gets a smack on the arm from Junmyeon for his trouble. “Ow, what the hell, hyung?” The younger boy pouts at him, but the other guardian is stern.

“Can you be a little more serious when we’re discussing about important matters, Jongin?”

Jongin sighs at the reprimanding from Junmyeon, slumping back against the wall with the pout still intact. “I was just trying to get my mind off the things yesterday, but if you want me to be serious, then fine. I can do that for today, I guess.” Junmyeon immediately feels bad and tries to remedy this by pulling the younger boy closer, who grumps a bit, but then allows himself be hugged by the older.

“This isn’t going to work.” Kris comments after a long period of silence. “Minseok and Jongin are evidently too shaken up by what had happened yesterday, and we can’t possibly just sit around and wait for something else to occur. The stakes are too high.”

“What are our options then?” Chanyeol speaks up, looking decidedly serious. “How do we even find out who or what we’re up against? That’s been one of the main problems so far that we’ve been unable to figure out for the past few years even.”

“Bits and pieces of how we were split up before we entered the Earth’s atmosphere have been returning to me lately,” Luhan admits, pulling everyone’s attentions towards him. “But I don’t think I can remember everything by myself. We also need to devise a way on how Chanyeol and Kris can get their memories back, because _their_ recollection of the past is way more important than anything else, aside from finding out where the roots of the Tree of Life are.”

“I think-” Jongin starts. “-that the recovery of our memories depends on the number of guardians gathered here as well. Don’t you feel the same way, Junmyeon hyung?”

“I’m thinking that the presence of Zitao and Baekhyun would be very helpful in getting Kris hyung and Chanyeol’s memories back. They were the closest to them after all. Of course, we need Jongdae around also, but for now we might have to focus on finding Zitao and Baekhyun first.” Junmyeon replies.

“Zitao’s appearance might also help Luhan hyung and I recall what had happened while we were transporting you guys here. The three of us were the only ones conscious enough at that particular moment.” Jongin chips in, his expressions reflecting that he’s in deep thoughts.

“And how exactly are we going to be able to find Zitao and Baekhyun hyung in the first place? Zitao is probably all the way in China at this moment, and Baekhyun hyung could be _anywhere_ in Korea, or even in some other country!” Sehun exclaims, throwing his hands up into the air, dismayed.

Luhan and Jongin exchanges a knowing look, before a smile finds its way onto the older boy’s lips. “ _Actually..._ ” he stresses, “Jongin and I have been trying out something in private.” All the other guardians chokes at the statement, only to receive a mental flip-off from Luhan when he finds out what they were thinking about.

“Keep your minds out of the gutter, please.” Luhan rolls his eyes at all of them, especially at the red blush on Kyungsoo’s cheeks. “It has nothing to do with _that_. We’ve been working out on a system to pinpoint all the guardians. Both Jongin and I know the feel of your minds, your auras well enough that we can figure out where you are, and Jongin can even teleport himself to the approximate area you are in if you give him the images. The problem though, lies in _how far_ that radius extends to.”

“In simpler Korean terms, please?” Yixing requests, flashing a look of dismay at Luhan. Luhan nearly forgets that Yixing isn’t fluent enough in Korean yet, and thus gives him a Chinese translation of his words in his head. Yixing nods at him in thanks.

“So... let me get this straight.” Junmyeon begins inquisitively. “As long as Jongin has an image of that particular person, he can appear right next to the person he’s searching for?”

“Pretty much, yes. I used to be unable to phase into a location if I wasn’t familiar with the layout of the room, but I somehow managed to get over that obstacle. I’ve tested it on my classmates, and it seemed to work just fine. I even teleported right into Super Junior’s dorms the other day.” Jongin answers earnestly, ignoring that _you-did-what?!_ look from Junmyeon. “I’ve tried teleporting myself to a friend who is currently travelling in America, but it didn’t work out, so I’m guessing anything above the 2000-kilometre radius is automatically out of the question.”

“Wow.” Minseok sits back, putting some of his weight on his hands. “So basically you’re saying that if Luhan can feel Baekhyun or Zitao’s auras, or if Jongin has a general image of where they are or how they look, then we can go looking for them ourselves?” Both of the younger guardians being addressed nod. “But it’d be a bit weird if Jongin suddenly popped up in an area with lots of people though. And _then_ we’d really be busted.” Minseok points out.

“That’s why we’ve been testing out this theory by ourselves instead of getting everyone else involved,” Luhan answers with a guilty grin. “I’m only telling you this right now because we can’t afford to sneak about without letting you guys know what we’re doing any longer. I can’t Foresee what will happen along the way, so it’s best to have some sort of safety net to fall back on.”

Yifan narrows his eyes at Luhan. “And both of you have been doing this for _how_ long exactly? Where’s the furthest that you’ve been to?” The guilty look on Luhan’s face has Yifan feeling very, very suspicious.

“Back home in China...?” Luhan answers vaguely, with shifty eyes.

“China?!” The rest of the guardians chorus while Yifan facepalms. “And let me guess-” The guardian of flight prompts. “-you guys found Zitao?”

Jongin bursts into laughter then. “You should have seen his face, hyung! He’s almost as bad as Yixing hyung was!” The guardian of healing narrows his eyes at Jongin for the comment.

“You found Zitao but never bothered telling us about it?!” Junmyeon yells incredulously, wondering just how many secrets Luhan and Jongin have been keeping from them all this while.

“It was just...maybe a couple of days ago? Luhan hyung and I looked all over Beijing and Qingdao and finally found him. He almost took our heads off with his wushu stick at first.” Jongin rubs the back of his neck sheepishly.

“That might’ve been because you teleported us right into his backyard!” Luhan retaliates.

Sehun cuts in and breaks up Luhan and Jongin’s bickering before it could even escalate. “Hyung, is that the reason why you guys have been missing from the dorms in the middle of the night for the past few days?” The pair pales when they were called out on their activities. Junmyeon looks at them in accusation.

“Luhan hyung, why did you let Jongin talk you into this? It’s too dangerous to have gone without having told one of us first! What if you’d gotten stuck there and had been unable to come back?”

Luhan pats Junmyeon in the back with an easy smile. “Don’t worry, we’re still here, aren’t we? Anyway, after yesterday’s incident, we’re not going to pull anymore stunts like that.” It’s a shame that they haven’t been able to convince Zitao to go for the auditions when they were there (although that might have been because he was more interested in chasing them out of his backyard than listening to what they had to say, really), but it’s a risk they could no longer take, especially if the people watching them already has tabs on their every move. The incident from the previous night is more than enough proof of it.

“But what about Zitao?” Jongin whines. “A little more time is all that we need to convince him. Maybe we need to bring Kris hyung along with us.” Junmyeon and Minseok both shake their heads at this. “If you get stuck there then it’ll only get more dangerous, and this time it would be a lot more difficult to explain why three of you are in China without even informing the management, let alone how you managed to get there in the first place.”

Chanyeol scratches his head, then adds his two cents. “You know, if whoever it is that is watching us is so intent on getting their hands on the Tree of Life, then they probably know that we’re still figuring stuff out and that we need the other three guardians before we would even have any hope of finding it. If that’s the case, then all we have to do is wait until they show up.”

“Waiting blindly without having a concrete plan of what we’ll have to do, or how we’ll retaliate – I’m assuming that a clash is unavoidable when that time comes – would just mean that we’re sitting ducks for the taking, though,” Minseok answers with a frown. He feels increasingly restless as he ponders about the situation. The circle of guardians fall into silence again as they think about how they can make the best out of the situation.

After a long period of silence, Kris finally speaks up again with a grim expression. “Either way, we would still have to work on sharpening our abilities, and try hard to remember what had happened on EXO Planet and on our way here. Can we start by looking for Jongdae and Baekhyun in Korea? I have a feeling that we _need_ everyone here. We’re the strongest when we’re together, remember?”

“Well, this still means that we need Jongin hyung and Luhan hyung to ‘feel’ them out and phase if they find them right?” Sehun questions, throwing a look at Luhan, whose eyebrows were knitted together in concentration. Jongin, on the other hand, is staring at the older boy intently; it didn’t take much for Sehun and the rest of the guardians to guess that they were trying something out again. After a few minutes, their eyes refocus, and both of them sigh.

“I can’t find either of their signatures,” Luhan huffs, frustrated. “It’s like something’s blocking them off from us. Whoever it is that did all this must have mind abilities; I’m beginning to think it’s the same group that did what they did to Chanyeol and Kris.”

“Someone has the same abilities as Luhan hyung? Is that really possible?” Sehun asks.

“Aren’t we the only guardians on EXO Planet at that particular moment? From what I remember, our predecessors have all passed on.” Yixing points out.

“Like you said, _guardians on EXO Planet_. There’s nothing that says there can’t be people here on Earth who have powers that are similar to ours. We don’t know how things work outside of our original planet.” Luhan says worryingly.

“Would it be safe to assume that these people tracked us all the way from EXO Planet, and possess similar, if not the same, abilities as we do?” Kyungsoo proposes, earning the nods of approval from the other guardians. Any assumption and possibility had to be factored in at this stage; they could not afford any slip-ups, which could be deadly if whoever it was they were up against decided to up the ante. Last night’s incident already proved that there was more at risk here than they had previously thought.

“Well, I guess we’ll have to sacrifice some of our free time to train ourselves up, then.” Junmyeon concludes, half-expecting for some of them to protest, but no one does. “And we obviously need to train with and also against each other if we want to improve our strategies and possible weak points.” The rest of the guardians quickly nod, and they come up with a suitable timetable that works around all of their schedules.

They might be in danger at any given time, and they had no idea when they would meet the other three guardians, but the same grim sentiment echoes in all of their minds.

_They would not go down without a fight, and if the other side was so desperate to have it, then they could just bring it on._

 

**

 

“You shook them up really badly, huh?” Jisuk comments as he slides into the empty armchair, folding his arms behind his head.

Jongmin is making the swivel chair twirl in circles so quickly that when he answers the other man, his voice sounds as though he’s speaking through a fan. “You should have seen their faces!” Even the distortion of his voice cannot hide his utter glee. Songhyun decides to put a stop to his chair swivelling with a glance at Jongmin’s chair, and it stops so suddenly in its rotation that Jongmin ends up sprawling onto the thick carpet.

“Ow, fuck you Songhyun. That was uncalled for.” Jongmin grumbles as he picks himself off the carpet and brushes off the imaginary dust covering his clothes.

The older man sniffs. “You were making me dizzy.”

“You could’ve just told me,” the younger man scowls.

Songhyun raises his eyebrows in reply. “And where would be the fun in that?” The smirk on his lips is unmistakable.

Woojung enters the room and gives the both of them a dry look before getting seated. “If the both of you are done being children, perhaps we can get on with the serious discussion instead.”

“Fine.” Jongmin and Songhyun choruses, quickly taking their seats around the table. Youngmin and Sooman walk in through the door, Kwangyeol joining them last as he closes the door behind him.

“I saw your stunt with the two boys yesterday.” Youngmin jumps right into the topic, his smile barely hidden.

“Satisfied with our work?” Jongin quips, eyes shining.

“Not counting the fact that you nearly killed one of them, yes. What exactly did you guys do to them before that, though?” Sooman asks.

“Just a little bit of illusion weaving.” Songhyun leans forward with a grin. “They had no idea they were cut off from the rest of their friends at all, and couldn’t break out of the illusion until I let up on it. They had no idea what hit them and they’re only now putting two and two together that we were the ones behind the destruction of the planet.”

Woojung laughs cynically at the information. “At least they were able to catch on to what we’re doing. They’re smarter than we give them credit for.”

“Well, it’s about time that they did. There are only three more guardians to go, and their powers are still nothing to crow about, in comparison to what they were before.” Jisuk points out. “At least this way they’ll be pushing themselves harder, and we’ll have something to look forward to when we finally reveal ourselves to them.”

“That may be so, but they’d better not slack off in my classes.” Kwangyeol chips in.

Youngmin sends a look in Kwangyeol’s direction, raising an eyebrow at the older man. “You’re practically torturing them with your crazy dance choreography, Kwangyeol. Really, you don’t usually push them to practice until this late into the night.”

The dance teacher-slash-choreographer shrugs at Youngmin’s comment. “You’re going to put all of them together as a group anyway, right? I’m just helping them increase their stamina.”

Youngmin frowns at Kwangyeol. “Have you been looking into my documents again?” The other man snorts. “There’s rumours all over the agency that there’ll be a group just like Super Junior, only more polished, and it’s no secret amongst the trainees that the nine that you have are practically shoo-ins already.”

“Don’t look at me like that, Youngmin.” Songhyun sighs in mock exasperation when he felt Youngmin’s piercing gaze turning onto him. “I was merely following your requests in terms of class arrangements. Can’t blame me when the trainees are such rumour-mongers.”

Youngmin is pretty sure that Songhyun isn’t as innocent as he tries to project, and might have ‘accidentally’ let slip some information.

“In any case, I hope you’ve been preparing yourselves well, gentlemen.” Woojung interjects before Youngmin calls Songhyun out on his actions. “The time that we’ve been waiting for is coming soon, and I don’t want us to make an utter embarrassment out of ourselves when we have to face these brats.” He eyes each of the men in turn. It’s been a while since they’ve really used their powers, with the exception of Songhyun and Jongmin, who find every excuse to use theirs. He hopes that he hadn’t forgotten about the _innovation_ he had made to his own abilities.

“We’ll be ready, alright.” Youngmin smirks as he watches the computer screen in front of him flicker to life on its own.

 


	18. {17} frozen time

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> two chapters today because I'm going to be busy for the coming few days~

Huang Zitao nervously flips through the Mandarin-Korean phrasebook that his friends had all but shoved at him when they saw him off the night before his flight. Watching Korean dramas and mouthing the lines along to them was one thing; actually _being_ in Korea and speaking Korean was another thing altogether. He fidgets with the strap of his backpack as he waits in line for his turn at customs.

As he glances around and takes in his surroundings, where travellers are chatting excitedly with their companions and businessmen still busy scrolling through their phones for messages and emails, Zitao could not help but wonder why he was here. He was doing decently well in his studies, and had been thinking about getting a good, stable job to last him for the rest of his life, so why was he about to board a plane to _Korea_ , of all places, to receive training to become an idol?

He vaguely thinks that he must be out of his mind. He’d been so close to giving up on this line after the many rapping competitions that he’d been to, but had not been scouted for, but the two crazy people who had suddenly appeared in his backyard in the middle of the night while he was going through his wushu routine of all things might have had something to do with his attending that audition which led to why he was standing here now.

 _“We’re your friends from the distant past,”_ they had said, and frankly, Zitao thought that they were some sort of aliens who randomly appeared out of nowhere. Zitao had waited for _days_ for them to return and give him a proper explanation (as they had promised), but they seemed to have disappeared from the face of the Earth.

Zitao, in all honesty, nearly checked himself into a mental institution. The only thing that made sense was that they told him to sign himself up for the SM Entertainment auditions, which, coincidentally was going on in Qingdao that week. He had never expected that his martial arts skills would come in handy, apart from being a form of exercise for him (though, the back aches and injuries to his waist frequently kept him away). When they hadn’t returned, he had decided he might as well join the auditions just for the heck of it anyway; what was one more audition in a long line of competitions that he’d already been through? He had given his best, but he didn’t actually expect to receive a call telling him that he’d been selected as a trainee. Even his parents had been more excited than him.

He begrudgingly thinks that _maybe_ he should be thankful to the two weirdos – though wandering spirits seem a more appropriate label at this point of time – who identified themselves as Luhan and Kai. The person in front of him leaves the counter and he steps up to it, handing the customs officer his passport, half lost in thought as he absentmindedly takes it back and then heads out of the customs area. Zitao can’t put his finger on it, but after he had sat down and thought on it for a while, both Luhan and Kai felt vaguely familiar, but he didn’t know where he remembered them from. Well, if he ever saw them again then he would thank them in person. Zitao nods to himself as he gets ready to board his flight.

This is the beginning of a wild roller-coaster ride.

 

**

 

“GUYS! GUESS WHAT!” A hyperactive Luhan bursts into the dorm, surprising everyone else who were lazing around in the living room on a hot summer day. Kai strolls in at a more leisurely pace after him, but if his shit-eating grin is anything to go by, it’s good news.

“What’s got you so riled up?” Yifan removes the book that was covering his face in his attempts to get a bit of a nap in. “Did Jongin drop to one knee and propose to you with a diamond ring or something?” He lazily fends off the cushion that is lopped at his face by the scowling Chinese boy.

“You wish, Kris hyung,” Jongin rolls his eyes at the older boy, wondering why the heck the other guardians _loved_ to pair him and Luhan up. They were nothing more than friends. Right? “On the contrary, I think this news might excite _you_ , for all that’s worth.” The taller guardian pulls himself upright against the sofa, eyebrow raised at Jongin’s statement.

“Zitao is on his way to Korea,” Luhan exclaims excitedly.

“Really?!” Junmyeon bounces in his seat, while Sehun tries to fend off the icicles that Minseok is throwing in his direction languidly.

“Yes, Luhan hyung managed to catch on to his aura, thanks to our snooping around the other day. He’s on the plane right now as we speak, and should arrive in Incheon within a couple of hours,” Jongin informs with a grin.

“That’s great! One down and two more to go!” Chanyeol high-fives a grinning Kyungsoo.

"Did you guys disturb him in China again or something? Last I heard, he was chasing after you with a wooden stick and refused to listen to a single word you said," Yifan drawls, not appearing especially thrilled by the news as the other guardians had expected.

“He might’ve decided to listen to us when we mentioned he should join up the auditions, unlike _some_ people,” Luhan shoots back.

"I got scouted for my looks, so your argument is irrelevant." Yifan snipes. The layer of ice that forms on the back of his neck makes him shoot up from his spot on the floor with a yelp, and he looks accusingly at Minseok.

“Hey! What was that for?” Yifan rubs the back of his neck, trying to melt the frost there with his body heat quickly.

"You need to cool down a little," Minseok flashes a saccharine sweet smile at Yifan which makes him shiver. "We don't need to hear what's going about in your head, by the way." The other members snicker at Yifan’s misery; although Minseok is normally quite complacent, irking him did not bode well for anyone. He took care of the other guardians in a less vocal manner than Junmyeon did, but whenever he intervened, there was also an underlying steel under his quiet demeanour.

“Anyway!” Junmyeon cuts in with a too-cheerful voice, intending to divert the impending squabble elsewhere. “Are we going to do anything to welcome Zitao to Seoul?”

“Well, it’d be rather strange if all of us showed up at the airport to welcome him or something. Maybe the three of us can look out for him in our classes or something.” Yixing points out.

“Maybe next time.” Yifan says simply, and gets up from his seat to walk into the room, only to have Jongin appear all of a sudden right in his face, sporting a mischievous grin.

“Not so fast, hyung.” The younger boy snarks.

“What do you want now, Jongin?” The older guardian huffs, annoyed.

“If this is going to be anything like old times, then you know that he’ll stick to you like glue right? You’d better make sure to look after him then, hyung!” The younger one says gleefully, before leaning in closer, in a mock stage-whisper. “Otherwise you’ll have to experience a bout of ass-whooping from him. Just. like. old. times.” Jongin grins toothily at him before turning back towards the living room. “Oh, and hyung, don’t forget that Junmyeon hyung and Minseok hyung won’t be too happy with you either, so if I were you I’d man up and take my responsibility!”

Yifan was about to cuff Jongin at the back of his head, when he receives a message on his phone. A loud groan erupts from the tallest guardian, and he throws his arms up in frustration. “The world must be conspiring against me today!”

“What’s going on, hyung?” Sehun asks, barely suppressing a smile at the amusing scene. It isn’t often that they got to see Yifan being frustrated to this extent.

“The dorm manager just told me that the company had assigned me to go pick Zitao up at the freaking airport.”

Chanyeol whoops in laughter as he claps his hands in excitement at the older boy’s misery, bouncing up to tug him on the arm. “Let’s go, hyung!”

 

\---

 

A few hours later, a very, very grumpy Yifan finds himself in the Incheon Airport with a very, very hyper Park Chanyeol by his side. He was trying to tune the younger boy out as much as possible by keeping himself preoccupied with his phone, but it doesn’t seem to be working. He doesn’t know if Chanyeol’s doing it intentionally, but the younger guardian was doing an extremely good job of getting on his nerves. In retrospect, he wishes that Jongin and Luhan had come with him instead. At least they wouldn’t annoy him as much.

A cheeky voice echoes in his mind. _Hyung, is that an invitation?_

Yifan mentally groans at Jongin’s voice. _No. Don’t you even think about it._ The older boy warns.

 _But hyung, I wasn’t the one thinking it!_ Jongin’s voice in Yifan’s mind is just as whiny as if he was standing right next to the older boy.

 _Oh_ , Yifan gasps in surprise, then his eyes narrow in recognition. _Zhang Yixing, what are you scheming right now?_

 _I have no idea what you’re talking about_ , the guardian of healing says airily through the mental conversation.

 _You’re lucky I’m not there to throw you out of the window right now._ Yifan huffs, as he scours the crowd for any signs of Zitao walking out of the Arrivals area. He wants to get out of the airport as soon as possible, because the _neon pink_ board he was holding was attracting way too much unwanted attention.

 _Fuck you guys for making me do this_ , he scowls inwardly, referring to Yixing’s _brilliant_ idea of making a sign bearing Zitao’s name. He had tried to argue with them that he would be able to recognise Zitao just fine, but _no_ , the other guardians insisted that Zitao would make a run for it if Yifan randomly walked up to him in the airport with _that face_ (which face, Yifan had no idea; it wasn’t like he could do anything about it, he was born with it after all!)

 _If you’d actually been cooperative in the first place maybe this wouldn’t have happened, hyung_ , Sehun points out offhandedly.

 _I_ was _cooperative you twat! I told you there was no need for the goddamned signboard!_ Kris snaps in his mind. His housemates really drove him up the wall sometimes. He could practically feel Sehun pout in his mind as Junmyeon scolded him lightly.

 _Kris hyung, just bear with it for a short while more, alright? I’m sure Zitao will be out soon._ Junmyeon later turns to him and says with a guilty tone. _I know using the pink was probably a bit overboard, but at least we know he’ll notice it straight off, right?_

 _Yeah_ , Yifan scoffs, _that is, if he doesn’t run away first._  Luhan chooses that time to butt into the conversation. _Trust me, if he’s anything like we remember him as, it’ll draw him like honey to a bee_.

 _To be_ really _honest though, if he’s practising martial arts, I don’t think he’d be attracted to cute things and pink?_ _Because that would just contradict with the kick-ass martial arts aura._ Yixing muses. The equivalent of a mental glare filters through Yifan’s mind.

 _You never know_. Minseok adds in.

 _And who was the one who suggested the colour_ pink _in the first place...?_ Yifan asks threateningly.

 _It’s a nice colour!_ Luhan insists.

 _Neon pink?_ Yifan sneers. _REALLY?_

 _I’ll convince the stylists to put you in a pink outfit, and_ then _we’ll see whether you would agree with me on that._ The older boy huffs again, feeling indignant at Yifan’s blatant teasing.

 _I will kill you, and then feed you to the sharks. How does that sound?_ Yifan growls back, though Chanyeol cuts him off with an excited tug on his arm. Yifan stares at him oddly for a moment, before his line of sight followed Chanyeol’s towards the general direction of the arrival gates.

“Yifan hyung, I think that’s him!” Chanyeol gestures at a tall boy carrying a backpack and a battered suitcase. The angles of his face are sharp and his eye bags and dark circles look like one could sleep in them.

Yifan raises an eyebrow as he transmits the image to Luhan and Jongin. _Is that really Zitao? Damn, he looks like he hasn’t slept in_ days _._ Jongin cackles in his mind. Now _do you understand why I laughed so much when we came back? Puberty needs to do a number on him too like it did to Yixing hyung!_ The guardian of healing sends a mental flip-off to the younger boy.

“I know you’re cranky and all, but stop being so mean, Kris hyung!” Chanyeol all but shoves the older boy, grabbing the neon pink signboard in the process as he wades through the crowd in Zitao’s direction.

Zitao is looking around, trying to spot a board with his name when he sees two tall boys coming towards him. The eye-catching _pink_ sign has his name on it, and he is faintly rethinking the decision of flying over to Korea. Perhaps who could run back inside and catch a flight back to China instead...

“Hi! You... Zitao!” One of the boys with a broad smile on his face greets in broken Chinese before Zitao can even dive back into the crowd, and Zitao wonders how the heck the boy knew his name. He didn’t even wave at the pair, unless the company decided to plaster his face all over its walls and asked their weird employees to look for him at the airport.

The taller boy gives him a wry look and mutters something to him in Korean, which has the first boy nodding vigorously, before he takes the neon pink signboard from the other boy. Zitao chances a look around him. They seem to be garnering a lot of attention, but he’s not sure if it’s because all of them are so much taller than the average Korean, or if it’s because of the sight of boys holding a _glittering neon pink_ board is the cause of it.

“You must be Huang Zitao,” the taller boy speaks to him in flawless Mandarin and Zitao is glad that at least there is _someone_ whom he can speak to without making a fool of himself. “I’m Wu Yifan, and this is Park Chanyeol. We were sent by the management to pick you up. And oh, before you misunderstand, we’re trainees at the company, just like you; only we’ve been around much longer.” Before Yifan can elaborate more, there are another two boys who push themselves to his side, and Chanyeol greets both of them with a toothy grin.

“Luhan hyung! Jongin-ah!” Chanyeol greets boisterously, and Zitao rubs his eyes, making sure that he’s not hallucinating. “When did you get here?”

The taller one of the new pair grins back at Chanyeol cheekily. “The _usual_ way, of course.” Yifan looks as though he’d rather be anywhere else but here.

The boy called Luhan catches Zitao’s confusion and turns to him, flashing a wide smile at him. “Hi, you must be Zitao. I hope you don’t mind Jongin and I crashing in on this welcoming party, but we were just curious when Yifan and Chanyeol told us that they were supposed to pick you up earlier.” He says, then cocks his head to the side. “Why do you look like you’ve just seen a ghost? I hope the flight has been good for you?”

“You...” Zitao points between him and the boy named Jongin. “Both of you... what are you doing here?!”

“What do you mean by that? We’re receiving training under SME, of course we’d be here!” Luhan grins again, appearing amused by Zitao’s confusion. “I think you’re exhausted. Come on, we’ll bring you back to the dorms so that you can get some rest.”

Zitao wasn’t given the opportunity to protest, and finds himself getting dragged away by the creepy, doe-eyed boy who wrapped an arm _tightly_ around Zitao’s shoulders. _Help!_ he tries to signal with his eyes to Yifan, who seems to jerk a little before heaving a resigned sigh.

“You two, knock it off already, you’re scaring him.” The tallest boy peels Luhan away from Zitao. Jongin and Luhan share a conspiratorial grin. Zitao gives him a grateful look.

 _What did I tell you, hyung? See? Just like old times!_ Jongin crows in their minds. Yifan casts a glare at the younger boy, warning him not to say anything else about the situation. He rolls his eyes when he hears the snickers of the other guardians who were listening in, and decides to duly ignore them.

Zitao pulls Yifan aside slightly. “Um, are there more of them like that?” He points surreptitiously at the trio of boys who are happily chatting away in rapid-fire Korean and laughing. Zitao isn’t sure how much more of this strangeness he can take. Yifan gives him a wry smile.

“Unfortunately, yes.” Zitao is quite sure that he’d like to take that flight back to China _right now_.

“If even Yifan can get used to it, you’ll be accustomed to this soon enough!” Luhan calls over with a mischievous grin, taking Zitao by surprise again. How the hell was he able to pick up on the conversation when Zitao was whispering to Yifan in the first place?!

The younger boy whispers furiously to Yifan. “Does he have supersonic hearing powers or something?” It makes Yifan crack up.

“Zitao, you have _no_ idea.”

 

\---

 

Zitao was already extremely nauseated from the freakish bus ride from Incheon Airport to the so-called dorms in Gangnam, only to find that stomach-churning feeling amplified the moment he stepped into his new living arrangement in Seoul.

“SURPRISE!” He was met with a shower of confetti and a “WELCOME ZITAO” banner that was hung between the pillars of the doorway, and it really makes him wonder just how long they have been preparing for this. (He kind of wishes that he’d been told about his zany housemates too.)

“He doesn’t look so good. Did you guys rough him up on the way back from the airport or something?” One of the boys comments in Mandarin to Luhan and Yifan, as he moves over to put a hand on Zitao’s shoulder. Zitao instantly feels much better – which is quite queer, really – though there’s still a sickening sensation at the pit of his stomach.

Junmyeon comes over to look at him. “I think he’s just overwhelmed by the amount of people and being in a new country.” The shorter boy smiles gently at him and Zitao is rather convinced that if an angel smiled, this smile would be it. He greets Zitao in halting Mandarin. “Hi... nice to meet you. My name is Kim Junmyeon. Welcome to Seoul!”

“Hi, I’m Zitao, but you guys seem to already know that.” Zitao answers amicably as his eyes wander over the faces of those present in the room. There are a total of nine other people in the dorm apart from him, and he wonders whether they all lived under the same roof, or whether they were just here for the festivities.

Yifan introduces each of the boys there by name, and Zitao’s mind whirls trying to remember all the foreign-sounding syllables. Apparently being accustomed to the Korean language through dramas does not necessarily equate to being able to catch up with it when it was used in real life situations, because _damn_ , these people speak like bullet trains.

When Yifan gets to Minseok, and Zitao opens his mouth to parrot Minseok’s name so that he can remember it better, what comes out is “Oppa” instead. The other boys stare at him for a moment, incredulous, before they all burst out into laughter. Zitao watches them in confusion, wondering what the heck he had said, but no one seemed to respond to him despite the countless times he tries to get their attention.

“Stop.” Zitao makes another attempt with his minuscule Korean knowledge, only to sigh in dismay when the laughter kept pounding in his ears. He is tired and grumpy, and their laughter and inattention to him is starting to grate on his nerves. Zitao’s last ditch attempt to get everyone to listen to him literally stops everyone in their tracks.

“I said, STOP!”

The silence was music to his ears, but when it drags out a little too long for comfort, Zitao blinks at the rest of the boys who were in the dorm with him. They seem to be frozen in mid-action, none of them moving a single muscle. He frowns at himself, wondering whether they were playing a prank on him (if they were, then Zitao had to commend them for their excellent acting skills), then walked around and began poking each of them in their sides.

When he gets to Yifan, he whispers to him in Mandarin. “Ge, you can stop playing now.” There is no answer from the taller boy, and Zitao frowns. “Ge!” He pokes Yifan harder.

The sound of a voice in his mind makes the martial artist jump. _Poking him isn’t going to make him move any more than it is the rest of us, you know. Wow, your powers really carried over didn’t they._

It takes Zitao a long lapse of thirty seconds to process the words and realise that _he had just understood a bloody long string of Korean peppered with difficult words how?_

“Who?!” Zitao whirls around and looks at each of the frozen boys in turn anxiously. This is really starting to freak him out. “If you can talk, then you can move!”

 _Actually,_ another voice which Zitao recognises belonged to Luhan said, _we can’t move because you literally froze time – and obviously, us, in the process. The reason why you can hear our voices is because we’re communicating with you through your mind._ He can hear the wry smile in the other boy’s voice. _And you can understand Jongin because in the mind, there are no barriers to understanding a different language._

“I must be dreaming. This is all a nightmare, isn’t it?” Zitao mutters to himself again, wiping down his face in an exhausted manner and taking a deep breath.

 _Could you maybe, unfreeze us? I think the pasta is probably absorbing too much water now_. Another voice says hopefully. _And I need to marinate the meat too if we’re going to eat in the dorms tonight._

“How?” Zitao splutters, only to receive an instruction from Luhan seconds later. _Just snap your fingers. If the past is anything to go by, it should work just fine._ Zitao questions about ‘the past’ in his mind, but proceeds as he was told.

It should have been a hilarious scene to see everyone fall onto the floor in a pile of limbs just like in the movies when the time freeze was lifted, but Zitao could not find the humour in it. Instead, he finds himself trudging over to the sofa and dropping himself on it, nursing his headache by rubbing his temples in circular motions. A series of groans and “ow” all around could be heard from each of the boys.

“Kyungsoo hyung...” Zitao mumbles without realising it, “will the food be ready any time soon?”

Kyungsoo freezes in surprise, and looks at Zitao, eyes wide. He was sure he hadn’t introduced himself to Zitao just yet. “You recognised my voice?”

“Why wouldn’t I? We’re- _oh!_ ” The younger boy begins, then suddenly exclaims when he catches on to what Kyungsoo had actually meant. “Shit, I’m really confused right now.” Kyungsoo looks at him blankly, and he realises that the other boy doesn’t understand what he just said because he’s speaking in Mandarin now. Yifan takes pity on him and translates and Kyungsoo nods, telling him that dinner should be ready in about half an hour or so.

“You should go get settled first and unpack, shower and stuff.” Luhan nods to Zitao.

“Not now. I need you guys to fill me up on _everything._ ” Zitao’s gaze was serious as he looked at his newfound friends. “Everything from the moment you guys first met up.”

 


	19. {18} 게임시작! GAME ON!

“So,” Junmyeon holds a steady gaze at Zitao. “Where exactly would you like us to start first? Your powers, or why you’ve ended up joining us, or even why you can hear us in your mind?” All of the boys _sans_ Kyungsoo and Yixing who were cooking in the kitchen sat in a round circle in the living room.

“I... I don’t know.” Zitao heaves a sigh. “Which part of this do you think is easier for me to absorb first? This headache is killing me right now, and all of these _images_...” He groans in pain. Yixing pads out of the kitchen and puts a hand on Zitao’s head. Zitao’s migraine lessens, and he smiles in thanks at the older boy. “Thanks, Lay ge.” The older boy smiles, pats him on the shoulder and then returns to the kitchen.

Jongin and Luhan exchange a glance. It seemed as though their theory was right. The more guardians there were gathered together, the faster a newly-found guardian would regain their memories. Even so, Zitao’s memories are returning at a far greater rate than they had thought possible. They wondered if it was due to the fact that Zitao controls time, and his power was subconsciously pushing everything into his own mind.

“Are you sure you want to go ahead with this? You look like you’re on the verge of collapsing.” Yifan comments thoughtfully as he watches the younger boy who is currently leaning against his shoulder, surprising the other guardians who have not seen Yifan’s gentler side in this lifetime so far. The younger boy shakes himself slightly and sits up again, back ramrod straight.

“No, I’m fine. I need to know what’s going on.” The determined look on his face reminds Minseok of the times when the younger guardian’s stubborn nature would set in when they were in training back on EXO planet. Minseok blinks slightly at the memory; he doesn’t remember knowing this particular snippet before.

“Are you guys experiencing what I’m going through right now?” Minseok therefore asks; even without being clear with what he was talking about, some of the guardians find themselves nodding in acknowledgement. Zitao’s presence alone was influencing the return of their memories, possibly because of the very nature of his power, or maybe because all four guardians with non-elemental powers had all gathered together.

“I’m remembering a lot more about our past on EXO Planet than I ever have so far.” Sehun blinks, trying to absorb the influx of information flooding into his consciousness. “Is this because Tao hyung’s here?”

“That might be it.” Chanyeol echoes. “I can remember the initiation ceremony now. Hey, I can even remember our training sessions! And almost getting hurled off the walls _by a strong gust of wind_.” The fire guardian narrows his eyes at Sehun, who is pretending not to look at him.

“The initiation ceremony was downright creepy, to be really honest.” Kyungsoo calls from the kitchen, apparently having caught up with the conversation over the clanging of pots and pans. “Especially with the masks and hoods and lack of sunlight.”

“I was a bit worried when I saw them take out the brandisher.” Yixing chips in as he sets up the table for dinner.

“Weren’t we all?” Junmyeon chuckles.

“What are you talking about? The head priest was the creepiest, okay.” Jongin shivers at the thought.

“That’s only because you tried to keep pranking him and got caught one too many times.” Luhan points out as he rolls his eyes. The younger boy sticks his tongue out in retaliation.

“Seriously, though. I enjoyed the times when we were out in public, hanging around and pretending that we’re not the guardians the most.” Zitao rejoins the conversation with a smile, his headache having abated slightly. “I don’t know about you guys, but it gives me a sense of normalcy from all that the-planet’s-life-is-in-your-hands thing.” The other guardians nod in acknowledgement.

Junmyeon moves across the circle to hug the younger boy with a grin.

_Welcome back_.

_Glad to be back, too._ Zitao answers in his mind. “So, what happened when we came to Earth? Were we supposed to have been reborn in such a manner only to regroup after so many years down the line?” Jongin and Luhan exchange a look before looking across the table at the other guardian.

“The actual plan was for us to come to Earth in our actual bodies, and for you to time freeze us for a couple of years before we woke up safely and figured out where we needed to hide our parts of the Tree of Life, or where to regrow it. The problem is that while we were coming here, something went wrong.”

“There was some interference with Luhan’s mind hold on all of us, and instead of having us congregate in one place, we were all sent off in different directions. Your powers might have also been affected because of the amount of power that was used, and instead of freezing us in our bodies then, you actually turned _back_ time, which resulted in our souls being intact, but in order to retain our powers, all of us had to be reborn into human bodies. As a result of that, our memories were buried, but since we retain the same souls as we have on EXO Planet, it was only a matter of time before our powers manifested and we were able to remember everything. Obviously, from what we’ve currently experienced, how fast we remember is also dependant on the number of guardians that have gathered together.” Jongin theorizes.

“Why have you never suggested that during our previous chats?” Luhan looks at him curiously. “We could’ve worked things out from there.”

“I never realised that until now.” Jongin replies with a pout, feeling affronted.

“That still doesn’t explain where the two parts of the Tree of Life have disappeared to though,” Minseok points out. Luhan promptly falls silent, eyes closed in concentration as he attempts to locate the aura of the Tree of Life again. The other guardians pick up on this fairly quickly, and they watch him quietly as well.

“It’s... in the company _somewhere_.” Luhan heaves a sigh moments later, face exhausted and weary. “I can’t pinpoint its exact location, but I know it’s there. Maybe we really need Baekhyun and Jongdae to fill in the missing pieces. The Tree of Life does thrive on the unity of the guardians after all.” Jongin slings an arm across Luhan’s shoulders, patting the older boy.

“Since Zitao is here, then it shouldn’t take that long for Jongdae and Baekhyun to show up now.” Yifan intones, reminding the others about the speed at which the other guardians showed up when more of them are gathered together.

Zitao flashes a stiff smile at Yifan. “I hope so. Why the rush, though? Are our powers really necessary here? I mean, we’ve been living on Earth without needing them at all.”

“That might be so, but some of us have been here for a couple of years as trainees. And we’re more than ninety percent sure that someone is watching us and know about our abilities. Just a few weeks back Jongin and Minseok hyung were sort of attacked when they were coming back after practice and their minds were blocked off from us, like how Kris and Chanyeol’s minds were intercepted back on EXO Planet,” Junmyeon’s eyes are narrowed as he answers Zitao’s query.

“Over the years we’ve had that feeling that we’re being watched too, so we can’t just disregard our powers, especially if whoever it is that knows about us is getting impatient and is aware about what we can do. We need to strengthen whatever abilities we have, so when the inevitable happens, we at least have the chance to _not_ get squashed like flies.”

“Hmm.” Zitao hums as he digests Junmyeon’s words. “Now that you’ve mentioned it, Suho hyung, I’ve had such feelings as well, and I can be sure it wasn’t Luhan hyung or Jongin doing that. The way I was being watched was different; it was more oppressive in nature.”

“Now that is worrying.” Yifan comments. “We’re at a significant disadvantage here, being in the light. We’re too vulnerable to attacks.”

“We need to come up with a way to stave off our minds being watched, or put up some kind of false image or something in order to at least hinder their movements,” Chanyeol mutters.

“Well, I’m currently trying out something with Jongin-” Luhan begins, only to raise his middle finger at the rest of the boys when they started sniggering. Trust their minds to instantly fall into the gutter. “-which involves synchronising our wavelengths and blocking anything else that doesn’t correspond to it. It _should_ be a highly personalised thing, so unless whoever out there manages to crack the code and get in, our thoughts should be kept relatively safe. Then again, it’s much, _much_ more difficult than I had anticipated.”

“What about trying to mask off our minds like what I can do with my secondary power? If the three of us work on it, maybe we can come up with something effective.” Yixing and Kyungsoo join the circle, dinner preparations already done.

“That would sap a lot of your power though. Remember how tough it was during the battle – sorry, Kris hyung, Chanyeol – when you were just physically masking us?” Kyungsoo points out.

Yixing shrugs. “This might be different, since I’m not going to mask you _while_ you’re using your powers – that requires an extension of the radius I need to cover. It’s just covering up our mind waves; it should use considerably less energy. We can try it out and see how well it works, and which is the most effective and uses the least energy. In that way we’ll also be boosting our stamina when it comes to our abilities, so it’s a win-win situation.”

“We can go by Yixing’s way.” Luhan concurs, but he turns to the younger boy with a serious expression. “We’re going to try it out for a couple of days. If there’s any sign of you going out of breath much earlier than you should during dance practices, we’re calling this off. Got me?” The younger boy has been known to push himself until he collapses without uttering a single world, and it is not something that Luhan wants to take a risk on.

“Sure, _ge_.” Yixing chirps. Kyungsoo notices that he has his fingers crossed behind his back and frowns slightly, but doesn’t call him out on it. He _does_ , however, send a message to Minseok hyung on a private mind channel, and the older boy takes note of it with a nod of his head. Minseok will make sure that Yixing doesn’t do anything self-destructive, or Yifan’s going to be really upset with all of them.

“Luhan _ge_ , I just remembered something.” Zitao exclaims out of the blue, pulling everyone’s attentions towards him. “Did you by any chance feel that there was an invisible force nudging at your hold on us when we were about to reach Earth?”

Luhan racks through his mind, trying to remember the memories of that time.  His eyes widened moments later, remembering something from that fateful day at long last. "Yes, I felt as though someone was pulling at my arms, and trying to separate me from Jongin." He enumerates as he gazes at his arm, clenching and unclenching his fist and attempting to relive the moment. "No..." Luhan corrects himself. "They wanted to grab the root of the Tree from me. I repelled the force with my powers, but somehow that weakened my hold on Jongin and everyone else."

Jongin nods as he too tries to recall the events of that moment. “One second Luhan was holding onto my hand, and the next thing I knew he was slipping away, and your grip on my shoulders loosened, Zitao hyung. Before I could even do anything we were all shooting off in different directions and then everything went black.”

“Now that you’ve mentioned it, I think I unleashed my powers to attempt to actually _freeze_ everyone in position so that I could gather us up again.” Zitao points out with a frown. “But evidently I failed miserably.” Yifan places a hand on Zitao’s shoulder, flashing a lopsided smile at him in an attempt to lift his spirits.

Sehun whispers not so quietly to Chanyeol, whose laughter promptly reverberates through the dorm. “And this was the hyung who was arguing so much this morning that he didn’t want to go to the airport.” Yifan flips the younger boy off mentally.

“ _In any case_ , at least we now have a lead on what had happened in the past.” Junmyeon intercepts as though it was second nature for him (which isn’t too far from the truth; more often than not, he would take up the role of the peacemaker even when they were back on EXO Planet because the rest were too hot-headed for their own good and he was... well, _him_ ). “We know that someone’s trying to get a hand on the Tree of Life, and they might be the ones who tried to run Minseok hyung and Jongin over the other day.”

“So what’s left to discover is our memories of being under that wretched mind control, right?” Chanyeol asks. “That block is still there and neither Kris hyung nor I can seem to get around it even though Zitao is here now.”

“Perhaps whoever it was that tried to infiltrate into our minds on Earth are maintaining the block on your memories. If Luhan hyung manages to stop them from doing so, then naturally you would be able to access that portion of your memories, I think.” Kyungsoo proposes as he chews on a mouthful of pasta, raising an eyebrow when he felt the others stare at him. “What? We have to take everything into consideration, right?”

“Hyung, y-you....” The others are waiting to see what Sehun has to add in when he cries out something that makes them all facepalm instead. “Hyung, how could you! Why are you eating on your own! You’re supposed to feed us too!”

Junmyeon sighs. “I suppose the discussion can wait until after dinner.” This announcement is met with all the boys scrambling up from the floor in a hurry and running to the dining table to grab onto dishes and cutlery. “Hey! Leave some for me too!”

 

**

 

Sooman deftly avoids a vase from sailing right into his head with a step backwards as he walks into the spacious living room, raising an eyebrow at the culprit when the porcelain object was smashed into pieces against the wall. “Wow, _you_ , of all people, are throwing stuff around? That’s a first by anyone’s standards.” He remarks, feeling amazed.

“Shut up, I’m in no mood to entertain you today.” Songhyun irately snaps at him. It is not often that Songhyun gets worked up, but his attempts to get into the guardian’s minds have been thwarted for the past few days. It seems as if they’ve finally caught onto the fact that Songhyun and Jongmin have been monitoring their minds, and it irks Songhyun to no end that they have managed to find a way to block both Jongmin and himself.

Youngmin and Woojung are rather amused at this turn of events, and find that they are looking forward to the inevitable clash with the boys. If they have found a way to block Songhyun and Jongmin, then it means that they must be working on their abilities and becoming more powerful, and Woojung _loves_ having a good fight.

“So, what have they done this time, Songhyun?” Jisuk makes a pass at Songhyun, enjoying every bit of this. It was refreshing to see someone else apart from Jongmin throwing stuff around, especially Songhyun who would usually just hurl things around without _actually_ breaking them, thanks to his abilities.

“Those little fuckers are making it difficult for me to keep a permanent hold on their minds.” Songhyun scowls at the monitor screens, as though he could make the people caught on tape writhe on the floor in pain just by staring at them alone.

Jisuk raises an eyebrow at him. “Shouldn’t you be happier about that since it gives you more of a challenge on breaking into their minds?”

Songhyun throws his arms up in frustration when another attempt of his to get into another mind was blocked off, nearly sending one of the monitors flying across the room. Thankfully, his reflexes were fast enough to hold it mid-air. “It’s a pain in the ass, that’s what it is! I haven’t had enough of toying around with them just yet.”

“At least this way we can actually _see_ that they’re getting better.” Sooman points out. “Why don’t you try a different approach to get through their minds instead of what you’ve been doing so far?”

Songhyun scowls at him. “Do you think I haven’t tried? It’s driving me up the wall!”

“So maybe the boy is naturally talented after all. What’s the big deal?” Woojung comments.

“He’s just jealous that the boy’s taking much less time to be in control of his powers.” Jisuk says offhandedly, ignoring the glare Songhyun sent in his direction.

Sooman nods. “They seem to be accelerating when it comes to using their abilities, and it’s even more evident ever since Huang Zitao joined them just a few days ago. If we can find the last two then it’s only a matter of time.”

Songhyun cracks his knuckles in glee at the news – the _possibility_ of getting into action sooner than they had anticipated is finally there. “Good, because I’m going to fucking pummel them to the ground, and I’m going to take my own sweet time doing so. No one plays a fool with Jung Songhyun and gets away with it alive.”

 

**

 

Zitao finds that he integrates into the trainee lifestyle with his fellow guardians rather easily. He is placed in Korean classes and fumbles through them slightly (he’s been much too spoiled by the way he can speak so effortlessly within the confines of his mind with the other guardians that when it comes to actually speaking and reading and _writing_ in Korean, it’s a bit daunting. It doesn’t help that Jongin and Sehun constantly tease him. At least he has Yifan, Yixing, and Luhan who are always up to the challenge of deciphering his stuttered Korean sentences).

The rest of the time was spent hanging out with his long-lost brothers, throwing their powers at each other in order to sharpen their skills. There were times where they got too caught up with it to the point of sustaining injuries and cuts everywhere, but thankfully, Yixing was always around and ever ready to patch them up if things went out of hand. It was the only way they could show up at practice the next day looking perfectly fine.

The boys begin to garner a following of fan girls, and this makes Zitao both amused and disturbed at the same time, because it is really strange to have people follow your every movement when you leave the agency to go shopping in Gangnam, or to have people filming you while you’re eating dinner with your friends. The girls probably think they’re being sneaky with their filming from across the street or behind a menu, but Zitao notices these little things very easily.

The number of fangirls increase exponentially whenever Kris was around, and Zitao had no idea what to think of it. They would squeal and scream and shriek whenever Zitao accidentally brushes against Kris, or when Kris holds his hand and drags him across a busy street. The problem is: Zitao is absolutely _clueless_ as to why they’re overreacting in such a manner. Kris is forever amused at this, and lets Zitao hang all over him when the younger boy wants something. The other guardians complain at times because he dotes on Zitao so much, but Kris always seems to have a good reason for why he treats Zitao differently from the rest of them.

Which is why the other guardians no longer think it weird to find Zitao sprawled across Kris’ lap on a daily basis, just like today when Luhan bursts into their practice room with Jongin in tow, broad grins plastered on their faces.

“What is it now?” Kris deadpans, staring steadfastly at his Korean vocabulary book instead of looking at the both of them. Zitao is counting the number of ants that are traversing the floor tiles for the lack of anything better to do.

“I finally found the solution!” Luhan chirps, ignoring Kris’ disinterest in him. Jongin is practically bouncing on the heels of his feet in excitement.

“Solution to _what_ , hyung?” Kyungsoo suddenly pops his head into the room and raised his eyebrows questioningly at the older boy, having heard the conversation going on within as he was about to enter.

“The pesky people who keep trying to get into our minds, of course. Where’s everyone else?” This gets Kris’ eyes off his book and makes him perk up in attention, nearly dropping Zitao onto the floor in the process. Zitao manages to get his abilities to work just in the nick of time, thereby preventing himself from landing on the ground with a loud thud. He scowls at Kris. The older boy ruffles his hair in apology before offering a hand for him to take. Zitao grips onto Kris’ hand and stands up, dusting himself off with a huff.

“Kris hyung, Zitao, go get a room please.” Chanyeol walks in and exasperatedly rolls his eyes at the pair.

Zitao sticks a tongue out at the older boy. “You wait until Baekhyun gets here. You’ll be _much_ worse, I’m sure.” Things had always been unbearable on EXO Planet whenever Chanyeol was with Baekhyun, as they all should remember by now. The pair was practically joined at the hip 98% of the time.

“Where’s the fire?” Junmyeon jokes as he walks into the room with Minseok following closely behind. “Luhan hyung sounds pretty excited.”

“He says he found the way to ward off the unknown people who have been trying to infiltrate our minds.” Yixing supplements.

“Really?” Junmyeon’s eyebrows rise high. “That’s great!” It would be a relief to not worry about whether their minds were being monitored or not, and the possibility of having their minds controlled by someone else would be lessened.

“Well, you’ll have to thank Jongin for pretending that he had his defences lowered. We were just fooling around while having lunch at the restaurant, and somehow I managed to detect an incoming infiltration. The infiltration attempt was rather feeble, like it wasn’t planned at all, but I managed to catch its signal and make some tweaks here and there to suit my own powers.” Luhan explains proudly.

“...I don’t get it.” Sehun splutters seconds later, only to groan when Jongin – of all people – ruffles his hair.

“No one’s supposed to understand that. Don’t worry. You know Luhan hyung sucks in explaining stuff.” Jongin just cackles when Luhan flips him off casually.

“Anyway,” Luhan goes on. “It seems to be working so far. Let me know if you feel people prodding around your mind that’s not one of us. Jongin and I will figure something out.” He sends out the wavelength that the other guardians are supposed to feel when it was someone from their circle trying to contact them, letting it go on for a while longer until the others were able to recognise it.

He _really_ hopes that this barrier would last them long enough to buy them adequate time. Jongdae and Baekhyun had better show up _soon_.

 


	20. {19} insidiantur

“That _prick_.” Songhyun seethes as another attempt of his to access one of the trainee’s mind failed. He had been making several tries over the span of a few days, just to see whether Luhan’s defences would be lowered, but he soon learns that it was a permanent blockade on the boy’s part. “He really found the way to block me out.”

“If you’re so annoyed about it, you could always go and confront him,” Jongmin watches in amusement as he lounges on the sofa. For once, the person wearing a hole in the carpet _isn’t_ him.

“And blow our cover? Fat chance of that happening!” Songhyun snaps back.

“I don’t really get it, though. Why are you so adamant about getting into their minds? We don’t need it to squash a couple of bugs and accomplish what we’re here for, do we?” Jisuk comments smugly, sipping at his tea.

“That’s not the point!” Songhyun insists, throwing himself onto the sofa next to Jongmin, who huffs and moves his legs to dump them onto the older man’s lap in an attempt to make him sit somewhere else. Songhyun pushes his legs off with a snarl.

“Then _what_ _is_ the point?” Jongmin presses on, not at all bothered that he was pushing his luck by annoying the already-angry Songhyun. “Do enlighten us.”

“The _point_ is that I can’t find out what they’re doing! I can’t even tweak any of their minds a little to influence their decisions and it’s driving me crazy!” He practically growls at Jongmin. “You! You share this power with me, why the hell are you not affected!”

Jongmin sticks his tongue out at the older man. “Because,” he stresses, “I’m not as uptight or as obsessive-compulsive as you are, obviously.”

“So, basically, you’re stuck not being able to read minds like the rest of us normal people.” Jisuk drawls, smirking. Songhyun scowls and hurls a vase at him, which he ends up stopping just short of crushing Jisuk’s nose. The other man grins in response. “What? Can’t bear to smash that in my face?”

“I would have no qualms in doing that, and you _know_ it Jisuk. Getting killed by Woojung, however, is something which I would like to thoroughly avoid, so you get to keep your pretty face for another day.” Songhyun mutters darkly at Jisuk, words dripping with extreme sarcasm.

“Well, either get used to not being able to get into their heads, or keep trying, but for goodness sake, stop trying to scare off your staff.” Sooman enters the room and closes the door behind him, voice exasperated. “I heard from Human Resources that two of them resigned because of your temper tantrums. I’d expect it from Jongmin, but not from you, Songhyun.”

The younger man who is still lounging around on the sofa squawks in outrage. “I’m not the one who is heading the trainee department! Don’t pull me into this!”

Sooman scowls at Jongmin. “In all honesty, I do think that your childishness has rubbed off on Songhyun. The both of you have been spending way too much time around each other.”

“I can’t give a shit about employees who can’t withstand one scolding or two. Seriously, I have other better things to do than to listen to their griping.” Songhyun rolls his eyes at Sooman.

“Up to you then.” Sooman shrugs as he takes the spot on the sofa next to Jisuk. “I won’t be the one suffering from the lack of staff in my department anyway. Just don’t come complaining to me when you don’t have enough staff to cope with the workload because _you_ were the one who brought it on yourself.”

Youngmin joins the group moments later, looking dishevelled as hell, with Woojung following closely behind. They didn’t even have to guess to know that he had just got off another meeting at god-knows-where. He continues with their original discussion seamlessly, making the rest of them wonder how on earth he had managed to guess where they had left off. “In any case, since the main channel that connects us to them has been blocked off, we’ll have to come up with a new strategy - which should have been done ages ago, frankly.”

“Any fabulous ideas to add?” Songhyun grumbles as he paces the room once again.

“How many of them are missing again?” Woojung asks as he swats away Jongmin’s legs easily, making the younger man scowl.

“There’s two more to go.” Sooman points out. “When all twelve have come together then they’ll purportedly be a lot stronger than they are now. Then again, that’s their own hypothesis. I personally don’t see how two extra guardians would help, especially when taking our condition into consideration.”

“They’ve _already_ gotten stronger even though the last two haven’t joined yet!” Songhyun hisses. Woojung raises his eyebrows at the other man.

“I see _someone’s_ taking this to heart.”

“Even without the other two guardians, they’ve managed to block me out from their minds. When the other two join it’ll be even more difficult!” Songhyun waves his hands in the air to emphasise his point and none of them are surprised that some of the furniture starts to rise with his movements; they’re just thankful that he’s not lifting the furniture that they’re currently sitting on.

Youngmin’s mouth opens up in a wide yawn, not at all fazed by Songhyun’s outburst. “So what exactly do you plan on doing? No Plan B on your side?”

The question miraculously stops Songhyun in the middle of his show of rage, and the previously-floating furniture landed gently in their original position. Songhyun’s lip pulls up into a smirk. “Actually,” he begins. “I _do_ have a Plan B, and it involves one of our dear friends who has not been found.”

Youngmin rolls his eyes. “And you’ve been agonizing over this again for _what reason_? Put it to use already!”

Songhyun grins sheepishly at Youngmin, losing his confident side in a flash. “I’ll need to find him first.” If looks could kill, Songhyun would be six feet under already.

“Then _find_ him first before you start complaining!” Youngmin hisses. He wishes he could strangle the lot of them some days, he really wishes he could. But at the end of it all, his loyalty and that soft spot in his heart for his friends prevents him for doing so.

“Be at peace, Youngmin.” Sooman says with a smile, holding up a CD which catches their attention. “Shall I show you what I’ve received in the mail the other day?”

 

\---

 

Woojung sits back, blinking at the screen that is currently paused to a boy singing in a badly lit karaoke room. The other men turn to Sooman, who has a wicked grin on his face.

“Did you know that he could sing that well?” Jongmin blurts out as Youngmin narrows his eyes.

“Frankly, if the things I usually hear is anything to go by, nope.” Jisuk comments offhandedly, casting a smug look in Youngmin’s direction. The older man frowns at him.

“Keep talking and I’ll ask someone else to take over your place as Woojung’s PA,” Youngmin mock-threatens. Jisuk presses his hand over his mouth at once, though the ghost of a smirk could still be seen reflected in his eyes.

“His voice is amazing!” Songhyun exclaims. “We need to cast him before he gets drawn in by any other agencies! How is it that he hasn’t been picked up by any of the others yet?”

“Well to begin with, the clip was sent in by someone else.” Sooman informs. “I’ve contacted the sender; apparently he’s a friend of the boy. He’ll bring the boy to the open auditions this Saturday. Songhyun, I’m going to leave this in your hands.”

“You can count on me.” Songhyun affirms with a sly grin. “I’ll get him into the company, even if that’s the last thing I do.”

 

**

 

“Guys, seriously, this isn’t funny! Where are you dragging me to?” Jongdae asks as he gets pulled by his friends through the streets of Apgujeong. They’d woken him up early at 7am on a Saturday no less, when he could have been sleeping in, and had proceeded to stuff him in the nicest clothes that he owned, then dragged him onto the subway without answering any of his questions except the common “You’ll see when you get there!” and his eyes had practically bugged out of his head when they had alighted at Apgujeong station. What on earth were they even _doing_ here?

(They also had him in a blindfold for half of the journey, but he managed to dispose of it somewhere on the train – only to wish that he _didn’t_ , because of the countless pairs of eyes which were turned in their direction. His friends snigger at his discomfort.)

“Before we tell you what we’re up to, can we have you promise us that you won’t bay for our blood when you find out?” One of his friends turns to him with a cheeky smile as they headed towards an unknown direction through the posh shopping district.

Jongdae scowls at him. “If you don’t tell me what’s going on _this instant_ , rest assured that these fingers of mine will be wrapped snugly around your neck within the next three seconds. Do I make myself clear?”

“Tsk, so violent, Jongdae.” One of his friends answers. “We’re dragging you to the place where you can be a superstar.”

Jongdae stares at him weirdly.

“What are you talking about? Are you dragging me to one of the agencies? Are you _insane_? I can’t even dance!” He starts flailing in an effort to fling off their arms, but they have a tight grip on both of his arms.

“Aren’t you the one who calls yourself the ‘dancing machine’? I’m sure you’ll get through the auditions just fine!” It doesn’t stop Jongdae from dragging his feet and if this were a cartoon, he’s quite sure the heels of his shoes would be leaving long tracks on the asphalt.

“ _Guys_ ,” Jongdae whines desperately. “You know I’m preparing for another audition somewhere else. I’ve been at it for the past few months. You can’t possibly expect me to give up on that!”

“Come on, just this once. I promise you won’t regret it.” The other friend grins, and Jongdae is immediately suspicious.

“Did you guys do something without my knowledge? _Again?_ ”

His friend huffs. “I have no idea what you’re talking about. And, oh look. We’re here!” He points at the long line of people in front of them. Jongdae’s eyes shoot up to the top of the building in question, and sees _Everysing_ embellished there.

“SME?! _SME?!!!_ ARE YOU CRAZY?!!!!!” He fairly hisses at them, trying to keep his voice as low as possible. He would much rather _not_ have the attention of what looks like at least a hundred people there staring at him as he vents.

The friend who had first dragged Jongdae out of bed stares at him in mock exasperation. “What? Isn’t SME _the_ company to join if you wanted to be a singer? I mean, you get to see _Girls’ Generation_ up close if you were to get in!”

“I think you’re mistaking me for yourself. I’m not that much of a fan of Girls’ Generation.” Jongdae deadpans, then shakes his head. “Forget it. This is ridiculous beyond belief. I’m leaving.”

“But there’s also Super Junior! And DBSK!” The other friend urges.

“Oh, by the way, you can’t bail. I promised _Lee Sooman-ssi_ that I’d drag your sorry ass here.” Jongdae stares at his friend in horror. “I’ve got orders to hand you over to a Jung Songhyun-ssi.” His friend grins toothily.

It takes all but three seconds for Jongdae to tackle his friend to the ground; he couldn’t even be bothered that they were attracting all the stares in the world, because _what the fuck_ _were these imbeciles thinking?!_ “What did you do?!”

The sound of a cough makes Jongdae release his death grip on his friends and he looks up to meet the amused eyes of a well-dressed man. “Are you by any chance Kim Jongdae?”

Jongdae blinks. “I – uh – yeah, may I help you?”

“We were the ones who asked your friends to bring you here today. I hope you won’t mind that. We saw several video clips of you singing, and thought that you would be a superb addition to our fleet of trainees.” The man explains, and Jongdae finds his eyes panning towards his friends again with a murderous gleam in them. Trust them to secretly take videos of him and send them to an artist management company _without_ letting him know. _Freaking trolls,_ he sniffs bitterly.

The man hands his business card to Jongdae, who wipes his sweaty palms on his pants before taking it from his hand. _Jung Songhyun, Head of Trainee Department,_ he reads, and it is only with great effort that Jongdae stops from gaping at the man in surprise. The eye smile that is given to him lets Jongdae know that the man knows _exactly_ what is going through his mind, and Jongdae finds it creepy and very unsettling indeed.

“Actually...” Jongdae begins as he straightens himself and brushes the dust off the knees of his jeans. “I’m preparing to audition for a well-known music conservatory, and I don’t think I’m too keen in joining the entertainment industry.” Songhyun’s smile falters slightly before he smiles again at Jongdae, steering him towards the entrance of the building instead before Jongdae can say another word. His friends – _the traitors!!_ Jongdae seethes – wave jauntily at him before disappearing down the road in raucous laughter.

“Now, why don’t we go through some of the things that you’ll be taught...?”

“But I haven’t– _didn’t_ agree to join-” Jongdae blurts out in confusion, but he wasn’t given the opportunity to complete his sentence. Jung Songhyun was every bit as stubborn as Jongdae, if not more.

“ _Allow me_ to convince you that joining SM Entertainment is a decent choice for a good singer such as yourself.”

Jongdae just gulps as he is lead up the stairs. _Help!_ He calls within the recesses of his mind, and he wonders if it’s a trick of the light when Jung Songhyun smiles.

 

**

 

Luhan and Kris were headed towards their designated training room when the older boy suddenly halts in his steps, his forehead creased in concentration. “Chen’s here.” Luhan mutters in clarification when Kris sends him a scowl for his odd behaviour.

“What?”

“Chen. _Jongdae_. He’s here. I can feel his aura.” The older boy says while his eyes twinkle in anticipation. He tugs on Kris’s arm. “Come on! Let’s go tell the others!” A long suffering sigh escapes the taller boy’s lips as he allows himself to be manhandled by Luhan.

“Here we go again.”

Luhan all but bounces into the training room, and finally lets go of Kris’ wrist. The taller boy winces a bit at the grip that Luhan had had on his wrist. In his excitement the Seer had held on quite tightly, and it hurts a bit. Yixing smiles knowingly and gestures the taller boy over before letting his powers sweep over Kris’ wrist. Kris’ arm finds its way around Yixing’s neck when the bulk of the pain was gone, pulling him along in an affectionate manner. Yixing follows without a single complaint, smiling widely.

“Jongdae’s here!” Luhan announces to the rest of the boys who had already arrived before him and Kris. “Right in this building, right now!”

“Are you _really_ sure about this, Luhan hyung? We’ve gotten a lot of false alarms with regards to Baekhyun’s presence in the past month, you know...” Chanyeol points out wryly, remembering the many times his hopes were brought up only have them dashed several days later.

The shorter boy bounces on his heels as he moves through some of the dance choreography they’ve gone through that week; Jongin joins in even without any music playing and they move so fluidly together that if any of their trainers saw them they might cry.

“Yup, I’m sure! Just you wait, he’ll probably be added to our dorms tonight.” The older boy chirps.

“Who will be added to your dorm tonight?” A deep voice interrupts their conversation, making the guardians freeze in their position at the intrusion. They weren’t expecting anyone else to walk in on them, let alone their dance trainer Kwangyeol who is currently looking at them expectantly. “Luhan, Jongin, that was a good move by the way. Have you guys been practising with each other often?”

“You have nooooo idea.” Sehun mutters under his breath with a silent snicker. He receives a mental flip-off, courtesy of Luhan.

“Sonsaengnim! Oh, we just heard that a new trainee joined today.” Luhan answers as he bows to their trainer and the other boys followed suit. “We were thinking that maybe he’d get placed in our dorm too.”

“New trainee?” Kwangyeol muses, raising his eyebrows in question. “How did you find out? He hasn’t actually passed the auditions as of yet.”

“Really?” Luhan frowns convincingly. “I heard some stuff that said otherwise when I passed by the trainee office today though.” Junmyeon is rather amazed at the way Luhan lies through his teeth without missing a beat.

Kwangyeol flashes a smile full of white, pearly teeth at him. “Now don’t you worry yourself over that. Even if there’s a new trainee in the company, you probably won’t be meeting him any time soon, until he establishes himself. You know the drill, don’t you?”

“That’s a pity. I heard he has an awesome voice. I was looking forward to hear it, but I guess it’ll just take some time before we see him.” Luhan shrugs nonchalantly.

A sudden heavy atmosphere looms upon them as Kwangyeol looks around at the ten of them all gathered together; no one dared to move under his scrutiny. “Well, since you’re all gathered here, why don’t we go through some of the moves that we’ve gone through this week?”

Luhan’s mental voice echoes in the rest of their minds as the boys move to obey their trainer’s requests.

_We’ll talk about this again later_ , he promises.

 

\---

 

“What was that about?” Minseok huffs as he crumpled to the floor in an exhausted pile of limbs, having been pushed to his limits by their dance trainer. He was beginning to think that Kwangyeol is actually a demon in disguise under all that zeal and passion for dancing.

“Someone save me.” Chanyeol rolls around on the floor trying to get his sore muscles to stop hurting. Zitao and Jongin are sprawled spread-eagled on the floor as they try to regain their breaths.  

“Do you think that Kwangyeol-sonsaengnim is in a bad mood today?” Kyungsoo mumbles into the fabric of his towel, ignoring the odour of his own sweat coming from it.

“You think?” Kris is leaning against the mirror, trying to feel the coolness of the surface on his skin through his drenched shirt.

“I’m pretty sure that Luhan hyung touched a nerve in him with all that trainee talk.” Sehun chips in as he empties a bottle of mineral water over his head, desperate to cool his body down. “You should’ve seen the change in his expressions.”

“Fuck you.” Luhan mutters as he digs his knuckles into the sore muscles of Yixing’s back, helping the Healer relieve some of the pain since he is unable to heal himself.

Junmyeon wipes his brow as he rests against the far wall. “Sehun has a point, though. Didn’t you notice how Kwangyeol-sonsaengnim’s intonation changed from friendly to downright stiff when you brought up the supposed trainee?”

“Then he knows something.” Yixing mumbles from where is face is half-buried in the towel on the floor. “And he doesn’t like it. _At all_.”

Luhan rolls his eyes at the lot. “What did you think I wanted to talk to you guys about before our training from hell started? Seriously, how dense can you guys get? _He’s one of them_.”

“What?” Kyungsoo manages to squawk, barely managing to gulp a mouthful of water down before he spits it out.

“One of those people who controlled Kris hyung and Chanyeol hyung’s minds on EXO Planet?” Jongin asks, raising an eyebrow at Luhan who nods in response. “How did you find out?”

“Simple. There was a mind block when I tried to access his mind, and the aura I felt on it was very similar, if it wasn’t the _exact_ same one that I felt before we managed to keep them from prodding our minds.” Luhan explains.

The entire room tenses up at the revelation. “Crap, we’ve played right into their traps, and let our guards down around him.” Jongin groans, wondering how on Earth they had managed to commit such a grave mistake.

“The fact that he didn’t want us to know about Jongdae makes it even more suspicious and confirmed my theory. He’s definitely not the only one who has their minds blocked off, but I’d rather not alert them to the fact that we _know_ by poking around each and every person’s minds.” Luhan elaborates. “If they managed to find Jongdae, then it’s only a matter of time before they find Baekhyun.”

“But we _can’t_ let them get to Baekhyun.” Chanyeol grounds out, scrubbing his damp hair in a frustrated manner. “If they managed to control Kris and I back on EXO Planet even though we were supposedly _one_ in terms of our minds, then Baekhyun would be a much easier target right now because we technically don’t have a bond with him.”

“Neither Jongdae or Baekhyun are aware of their powers or memories right now, until they come into complete contact with us. If we try to meet them before they join the agency, those people might get angry and then we’d be in deeper shit.” Zitao points out tiredly.

“Correction: they got to Jongdae. We can just hope that they haven’t exerted any mind-controlling effects on him yet.” Luhan says quietly as Yixing sits up.

“So what’s our plan now? Do we go after Baekhyun first?” Minseok questions as he peels off his drenched shirt and pulls on a dry one.

“I think that whoever’s in the same league with Kwangyeol-sonsaengnim is actually tampering with my ability to detect Baekhyun and Jongdae. They _allowed_ me to sense that Jongdae is in the company because they _wanted_ to. The most important thing right now, I believe, is to hide the fact that _we know_ that they’re up to something, and we’ve discovered the identity of one of their members.” Luhan concludes as he wipes down his face with a towel grimly.

“For now, we have no choice but to lie in wait.”

 


	21. {20} electric shock

Jongdae really can’t believe that he is actually doing this. One minute it seemed as if he was being sweet-talked about the benefits that he would be entitled to as a trainee of S.M. Entertainment, and when he blinked again, he had already signed the contract! And now, now he was standing in the agency itself, blinking at Jung Songhyun, who was handing him his schedule and telling him about his dorm arrangements.

He had no idea what happened in between; it seemed as though his mind was on autopilot mode. But the deed was done, his signature printed on paper, and there was no way he could back out of it now.

(Jongdae caught a glimpse of the amount of money he had to fork out if he were to cancel the contract, and decided that he would have to work his ass off for the next ten years _at the very least_ to pay it off. What the hell.)

“Here’s a copy of your schedule, and these are the people that you’ll be rooming with. Someone should come and pick you up for your ride to the dorm soon enough. Welcome to SM Entertainment once again.” Jongdae smiles weakly and shakes Songhyun’s hand, then woozily walks out the door of the trainee department.

True enough to Songhyun’s statement, Jongdae finds himself ushered towards the direction of a sleek black van which was usually used to ferry the _stars_ of the company a short while later. He wordlessly gets into the van, lost in his own thoughts and unaware of the girls who are standing around pointing at him and whispering ‘is that a new trainee? _Oh my God_!’ Before he even realises it, he’s already being led down the van and up the stony path leading to his new dorm.

The house looks quaint, with a porch and a large garden area. Jongdae looks around him curiously; it seemed as though they were still somewhere within Apgujeong, judging from the quality of the houses around him and the neighbourhood. The lights were already on inside the house and he wondered just how many people he would be living with; he hadn’t exactly looked at the list of names that had been given to him.

He soon finds out, though, when the driver leaves him to fend for himself against ten other people who practically shoved their faces into his the moment the van left. He didn’t even have the opportunity to ring the doorbell. Jongdae takes a cautious step back from the door. Then another.

“Uh.... Hi…?” He trails off uncertainly and it is quite off-putting to see ten pairs of eyes staring at him. They looked like a school of vultures eyeing their prey hungrily, even, and Jongdae gulps.

“Hi! You must be Jongdae! We’ve been expecting you!” The second tallest of the lot greets a bit _too_ cheerfully, like he would barf rainbows and sunshine all over Jongdae at any given time. Jongdae takes another tentative step backwards.

“Yeah... I can see that...” He wonders if they would start charging after him if he started running and promptly pales at the thought, because the situation is entirely _too_ easy to visualise with their almost-maniacal smiles.

A pregnant pause suddenly ensues, Jongdae had no idea why, but judging by the way that their eyes were trained on him, he thinks that they were expecting something else from him.

And then the boy with the largest eyes – Jongdae does a double take because said boy has rather feminine features along with shoulder length hair that looked ultra-soft to the touch; that was until Jongdae notices the way his Adam’s apple jutted out along the lines of his neck – pipes up. “Do you remember us now?”

“Am I supposed to?” He deadpans flatly, eyes narrowed. Now Jongdae is just getting plain annoyed. The more he thinks about how he got suckered into this, the more annoyed he gets, and his supposed _housemates_ aren’t helping his case at all.

“Odd, you’re taking much longer than Zitao to recall.” Another boy with (very attractive) tanned skin comments with a pout. Jongdae feels oddly violated by the way the boy was scrutinising him.

“Recall what?” Jongdae blurts, flustered. The doe-eyed boy decides to add on to his confusion then by making the most inane comment Jongdae has ever heard thus far.

“There’s a mental blockade,” he sighs. “It seems like they _did_ get to him, but at least he’s not being controlled. Never mind, let’s get him inside first. I’ll figure this out with Yixing and Jongin.”

A boy with large round eyes comes out from the house and ushers him in. “Hi, I’m Do Kyungsoo. Don’t mind them, they’re always like that. Welcome to the dorm! Are you hungry? I’ve made dinner already.” Jongdae blinks at the contrast between this boy and the other two and manages a smile. The others move back from the doorway to let him and his luggage bag through.

“This isn’t good. Are they throwing a silent challenge at us?” A stern-looking boy speaks up with a deep frown etched on his forehead.

The feminine-looking boy ignores that question and decides to turn on Jongdae instead. “Jongdae, I know this might freak you out a little – or _a lot_ – but please, just play along with us in the meantime. We need to ascertain some things before we can explain what’s going on with you,” he says, voice low and gentle, yet urgent in more ways than one.

Jongdae frowns at him, already weirded out to no ends. He’s not sure exactly what the boy is talking about, but nods hesitantly instead. Maybe he’d be able to explain exactly how on earth he’d ended up signing the contract in the first place when he didn’t even _remember_ signing it. “So... what is this about?”

The boy opens his mouth to answer, but a stern look from Kyungsoo stops him. “Luhan hyung, at least let him eat first.” A resounding rumble from Jongdae’s stomach makes the boy blush, and a few of the other boys snicker while some of them smile on mildly.

“Food first.” Jongdae agrees. He leaves his bag by the wall.

“Fine,” Luhan sighs as he drags the boy with the tanned skin along with him. “We’ll discuss this _over_ dinner because no, Kyungsoo, this can’t wait.” He says, shooting a look at Kyungsoo when the younger boy tries to mouth his protest. The younger boy sighs in resignation before going into the kitchen to bring out the food. A boy with a round face and chubby cheeks, and another boy with a somewhat dazed look follow Kyungsoo into the kitchen as well.

“So like Luhan hyung was trying to say – I’m Jongin, Jongdae hyung, you can stop staring at me with that constipated look now-” Tanned boy begins as they scooped the food into their own plates, only to interrupt himself when he catches the confused look on Jongdae’s face. “-we have to run several questions past you to find out about something.”

Jongdae accepts the plate gratefully from a slightly shorter, smiling boy before filling it from the pot in the middle of the table. He doesn’t really notice the slightly longing glances that said boy is throwing at him occasionally. “Alright then.” He concedes. “What do you need to ask me?”

“How did you come about to the auditions?” Jongin mumbles around his chopsticks and earns a pinched cheek from the boy who had passed Jongdae his plate earlier. “Speak _without_ the chopsticks in your mouth, Jongin.” He says, leaving the pinched cheek a stinging red. Jongin aims puppy dog eyes at the other boy, who pointedly ignores him and continues eating.

“Junmyeon hyung, you’re so mean,” Jongin pouts.

The boy called Junmyeon swallows before bothering to retort to the younger boy. “ _Someone_ has to teach you proper eating etiquette around here.”

“Junmyeon, this isn’t really the time to be lecturing the brat. We have more serious matters at hand,” Luhan grounded out with a wry look on his face. Junmyeon smiles at the older boy in acquiescence.

“Alright, hyung. But Jongin, you really _do_ need to stop spitting rice when you speak,” he quips and picks a piece of rice from the side of Jongin’s mouth. The younger boy scrunches his nose in reply.

“Um... Permission to speak?” Jongdae’s voice slices through the light banter moments later, awkward and unsure. The chatter stops and Luhan and Jongin nod.

“Right, so, like I said just now, Jongdae hyung: how did you come about to the auditions?” Jongin asks again.

Jongdae’s lips form a pout as he summarised his entire encounter. “Idiot friends sent in a clip of me singing. Lee Sooman-ssi rang them up and asked them to bring me in. And then this Jung Songhyun happened and you see, I _don’t_ exactly remember anything else that spiralled after that,” he grimaces, suddenly feeling a little – or a whole lot, really – stupid. Jongdae watches as all of the boys exchange wary glances; Jongin and Luhan’s faces in particular look especially grim.

“Have there been any instances – any time at all during your life – that you’ve felt that you’re not particularly normal?” Luhan asks.

“Not until today, no.” Jongdae replies. “I mean, joining SM Entertainment had been the last thing on my mind. I was adamantly telling him that I had absolutely _no intentions_ of joining the company because I was planning to join a music conservatory, but then it’s like when he was finally done explaining, I’d already signed the contract.”

“They didn’t even ask you to sing?” Junmyeon blinks at him, which Jongdae replies to with a slow shake of his head, as if he was unsure with himself.

“I... really don’t remember. The last thing I remembered about that was sitting down in a room with Song Jonghyun and him talking about the contract and also what it would be like to be a trainee.”

Luhan frowns again as he ponders over Jongdae’s words. “This is tricky. They definitely tampered with your mind, and I still can’t undo whatever blockade that’s there. But now we can at least be sure that Mr. Jung is in the same league as Kwangyeol-sonsaengnim.”

“Can’t you bypass that by altering your mind’s frequency, though?” Jongin suggests.

Luhan sighs. “If I do that then Mr. Jung and Kwangyeol-sonsaengnim would know for _sure_ that we know what’s going on. We were able to pull off the stunt with blocking off our minds, only because we were wary since we’ve felt the presence of people poking around in our consciousness, but there’s no reason why we would actually suspect that Jongdae’s mind would be tampered with.”

“Even if they find out that we know something, so what? As long as they’re under the impression that we’re still in the dark about their identities, they can’t do anything about it, can they?” Kris points out.

Luhan pushes the vegetables on his plate around with his fork and he frowns in thought. “There’s no knowing exactly what they’d do if they found out, and we’re still missing Baekhyun. If they do something because they _suspect_ we know their identities, then...” He trails off, unsure of the type of conclusion he wants to end with.

“Why don’t we take a vote?” Minseok asks. “I doubt that they’d suddenly... dispose of us-” He winces at the word usage as the others cringe. “-even if we found out, and it would defeat their purpose of getting all twelve of us together. But just so it’s fair, let’s all decide on the course of action that we want to take regarding the mental block on Jongdae’s mind.” The other boys around the table nod in assent. “We’ll go with the majority of the votes.”

Jongdae is the first to cast his vote. “I don’t really know what we’re talking about, but whatever it is that’s making me all confused and lost right now, I want it out.” No matter that he’d been practically conned into joining the agency, now his curiosity is getting the better of him, and he wants to know whatever conspiracy it is that this group of boys is involved in.

“The risk is high, but we need to stop them from gaining a hold on Jongdae hyung’s mind. I say we should try lifting the mental block.” Sehun answers with a small frown on his face.

“I think we should get the mental block off Jongdae hyung too.” Zitao speaks up firmly. “If they can do this to Jongdae hyung, then it may also happen to Baekhyun hyung when they find him. If we can break the hold they have over Jongdae hyung, then there shouldn’t be a problem if the same thing is done to Baekhyun hyung. The whole point of them bringing all twelve of us together in the first place is to find the Tree of Life, so at the very least, until all of us are gathered, they still won’t be able to find it. I don’t think they’ll do anything drastic before that.”

“Then again, we’ll never know for sure. Remember how several cars nearly ran over Minseok hyung and I? I don’t know what they were trying to do if they didn’t intend to _actually kill us_ with that.” Jongin points out wryly, wincing a little at the horrific memory. He smiles slightly when Luhan squeezes his shoulder. “Their actions have been unpredictable so far. There’s no saying what they’ll do, even if the twelfth guardian isn’t here yet.”

The expression on Jongdae’s face is horrified. “There have been people who are trying to _kill_ you?!” What on _earth_ has he been dragged into?

“Unfortunately, yes. At least we _think_ so.” Minseok makes a face. “But don’t worry, we haven’t received any death threats since – overt or otherwise – so we’re safe for the time being.”

Jongdae stares at him in disbelief. “This just keeps getting weirder and weirder doesn’t it?” He mutters to nobody in particular.

The vote goes around the rest of the table, with Kris, Chanyeol and Yixing voting in favour of removing Jongdae’s mental block. Minseok votes for the same despite his previous experience with Jongin of almost being run down. Luhan, Jongin and Kyungsoo have firmly decided that the risk is too high in light of the other possible consequences that might follow if they do remove the mental block. It takes Junmyeon a bit longer to make his decision but he finally decides that the uncertainty of the backlash from their enemies far outweighs the regaining of Jongdae’s memories and abilities.

The count is evident; seven of them are for breaking the mental block on Jongdae’s mind while the other four are hesitant about the consequences about it. Chanyeol vaguely wonders which side Baekhyun would have voted for if he had been around.

“I certainly hope we won’t be regretting this...” Luhan mumbles as he shuts his eyes. He pushes away from the table, food still unfinished on his plate and face a bit pale. “Finish your dinner first and then we might as well get started.” He disappears into the kitchen and Jongin gets up wordlessly as well.

“Luhan hyung, don’t worry too much about it. I’m sure we’ll be fine.” Jongin whispers into Luhan’s ear as they settled their dishes in the sink, keeping his voice as low as possible. Luhan barely manages a thin smile when Jongin rests his chin on his shoulder, and he presses his cheek against the younger boy’s.

“I hope so, Jongin. I really do.” He pats Jongin’s cheek fondly before they return to the living room.

 

*****

 

Songhyun slumps into his office chair as he felt the last of his connection with a certain Kim Jongdae die away. “These kids are sure fast in picking up things.” He mutters, wiping his face down in exhaustion. He had used everything he had to keep the last bit of connection intact, but Luhan was able to pry him off Jongdae’s mind regardless.

Jongmin looks up from the comic section of the newspaper that he’s perusing. “I’d expect that they know what your mind feels like now, and that they’d be able to break the connection with enough effort, considering how many years you’ve been poking around their minds already. _He_ is especially sharp about this stuff anyway. I think I’d be more disappointed if they hadn’t figured it out, actually.” He shakes out the folds in the paper a bit while Songhyun just stares at him blankly.  

“Don’t tell me you’re forming an attachment to the boy already, Jongmin. You little cheater.” Jisuk, who was seated in a quiet corner of the room, teases. The younger man pointedly ignores him, but slams a wall up in his mind against Jisuk. The older man raises an amused eyebrow in reply.

“Whatever floats your boat,” Jongmin mutters, eyes still on the newspaper. “I know where my loyalties lie.” His tone may be conversational, but both Jisuk and Songhyun can hear the sharp edge in it that warns them off baiting him any further.

“So.” Jisuk starts as he leaves Jongmin alone and turns towards a long-suffering Songhyun instead, who can see the gleaming mischief in his eyes.

“What’s your next _grand_ plan?”

“Something that doesn’t involve tampering with minds. Not _directly_ , anyway.” Songhyun sniffs, folding his arms in front of his chest. Jisuk leans forward, trying not to look too eager. Being Woojung’s PA only brings so much excitement, and a bored Jisuk is a bit of a walking time bomb.

“Do enlighten me on this plan of yours. I’ll help you out if I can.” The corner of Jisuk’s lips pulls up into an unmistakable smirk, which Songhyun replies with one of equal magnitude.

“First, I’ll need you to get some _one_ ’s address for me.”

 

*****

 

When Jongdae wakes up to find ten pairs of eyes staring at him in a most disconcerting manner, there is a split second where he both knows, and doesn’t know all these people, but then the memories settle properly in his mind, and he finds himself reaching out to the person currently sitting closest to him with a slightly worried look on his face; Junmyeon. The older boy lets out a bit of a surprised yelp before he hugs Jongdae back tightly and laughs.

“Welcome back, Jongdae.” Junmyeon murmurs fondly into the younger boy’s hair as the rest of the boys take this as an invitation to pile on into a group hug.

“Great to be back,” he concurs, then groans when he feels the pain shoot through his head. “Though I feel like I’m having a massive hangover at the moment. Ugh.” Jongdae pushes at someone’s bum which is entirely too close to his head for his liking. “Get _off_. All of you are fatsos, what have you been _eating?_ ”

The person who gets his bum pushed – Minseok – lets out a painful yelp and reels away rubbing the spot where the tip of Jongdae’s fingers had just lingered upon. “Ow, _fuck you_ Jongdae! Did you really have to use your powers to push me off?!”

The younger boy grins impishly at him. “Well at least you know that they’re in full working condition now.” To the rest of the pile of people that are all over his legs and in general squishing him and Junmyeon, Jongdae haughtily announces.

“Anyone who doesn’t want to get zapped courtesy of good ol’ me better get off within the next ten seconds. Ten-” He begins, and he can feel the other boys scrambling to get off the pile, with muttering and cursing coming from Yifan who had happened to be shoved to the bottom of the pile and is draped over Jongdae’s legs. Jongin and Sehun squawk indignantly as Chanyeol rolls off of them. Junmyeon is chuckling quietly in his ear as Kyungsoo sighs, waiting for the rest of them to get off so he can get off; Junmyeon’s elbow is digging into his stomach and he would rather keep his dinner down, thank you very much, no matter how much he likes the weight of the older guardian on him.

Yixing languidly rolls off, then prods Luhan in the side to get him off the pile. Zitao rather enjoys being on the top of the pile until Yifan tickles the sole of his feet, causing him to shriek and roll off the rest of them with an unceremonious bump on the floor. In the end, Yifan narrowly misses getting shocked by electricity, getting away from Jongdae just as the younger boy reaches the count of one.

When nothing happens to Junmyeon, who was still cuddling with Jongdae on the bed, Sehun lets out an indignant whine. “Hey, no fair, why do _we_ have to get off but Junmyeon hyung gets to stay?”

“Because he’s mine.” Jongdae announces without batting an eyelash. Junmyeon turns scarlet when the other members watch him questioningly. He’s glad that the others can’t see his face and buries it into Jongdae’s shoulder instead, mumbling something incoherent. Jongin and Sehun are already snickering away. They hadn’t exactly broadcasted their relationship while they were on EXO Planet. Besides, the boys were mostly too busy making fun of Luhan and Kai to pay attention to Jongdae and Junmyeon.

“Dude, you guys are much worse than Jongin and Luhan hyung when it comes to PDA.” Kris rolls his eyes at the pair and shudders playfully.

“Go away.” The guardian of lightning scowls as he makes gestures with his toes for the rest of them to go away. “Shoo! Shoo! Let me have my cuddle time.”

What Jongdae didn’t expect was for Luhan to drag him out of his covers by the scruff of his shirt. “Jongdae, as much as I’d like to leave you and Junmyeon alone, we have some serious business to handle.” The guardian of thunder frowns, still clinging onto Junmyeon like a barnacle on a rock. The older boy pats his cheek and kisses his hair instead before disentangling himself from Jongdae’s tight hold. The younger boy resolutely pouts as he clings to Junmyeon’s hand.

“Come on now, we can cuddle all we want later.” Junmyeon coughs, red tinging his cheeks slightly while Yifan rolls his eyes and Jongin and Sehun start snickering away again. “Just listen to what Luhan hyung has to say first because it really _is_ important. We weren’t kidding when we said our lives might be in danger.”

“Fine.” Jongdae finally relents, kicking the blankets off him and immediately latches himself to Junmyeon again as they head out of his room. The older boy laughs lightly as he clasps Jongdae’s hand, and the rest of them congregate quickly in the living room again. The dorm manager has gone out for the night so they can talk freely without having to worry about being overheard.

“Jongdae, is something the matter? You’re fidgeting around too much.” Chanyeol quips as he watches the older boy, who is glancing everywhere in search of something.

Jongdae frowns at the question. “I... don’t know. I feel somewhat uneasy being in here. Do you have CCTVs installed here or something?” Kyungsoo’s mouth opens into a wide ‘O’ shape while the rest of them follow suit in looking around the room instantly.

Luhan’s eyes are narrowed in barely veiled anger. “Bring them down.” He says.

Jongdae shrugs slightly, and touches the floor with his hand to ground himself. He takes a breath, and in the next second, the house is suddenly plunged into pitch black darkness. Chanyeol lets a few flicker of flames dance on the tips of his fingers, and they decide to convene their discussion in the dark. At least it was more comforting than having unknown – or _known_ – people watching their every move. It reminds Luhan of the times they went camping back on EXO Planet, with the twelve of them all sitting around a campfire and telling ghost stories and kicking back to relax.

“This is some serious shit, huh.” Kris comments. “I never even realised that they installed CCTVs to monitor our movements.”

“We could have had a candlelit dinner-” Sehun deadpans, and Minseok slaps a hand over the younger boy’s mouth before he can go any further. Jongdae snickers as he squeezes Junmyeon’s hand in his.

Luhan’s eyes are amused now as he meets Jongdae’s. “You know, when I said ‘bring them down’, I was only referring to the CCTVs. You didn’t have to short-circuit the _whole neighbourhood_.” He comments, casting a look outside the window. Jongdae follows his line of vision, turning slightly pink under the orange glow of Chanyeol’s flames at the realisation that the entire street was enshrouded in darkness as well.

“Oops. My control’s still off.” The younger boy mutters sheepishly. Luhan waves him off gently.

“It’s alright, you’ve just woken up after all. Just make sure the CCTVs stay non-functioning when you bring the electricity back up again. There’s no reason we should know that there are CCTVs, and if they’re trying to keep their knowledge of us knowing what they’re up to under wraps, they won’t bother to send people to fix those. Anyway, now we can really get down to business.” The older boy continues, his expression becoming more serious.

Between Luhan and Jongin, the story of how they’ve found each of the guardians over the past few years slowly comes to light and with the other boys chipping in now and then, the revelations make Jongdae’s head whirl with the abundance of information.

“So... the gist of it is that now we’re only missing Baekhyun and the location of the Tree of Life, right?” He hedges it out verbally.

Jongin shakes his head in response. “The Tree of Life is in SM Entertainment. We’ve ascertained that some time ago, since its presence is felt the strongest there. But we still need to determine where _exactly_ it is. Hopefully when Baekhyun arrives, we might be able to get a clearer picture of the exact location since all of us will be there, and our powers are stronger when we’re together.” The younger boy grins slightly. “And it seems that we also need to work on your control, hyung.”

Jongin ignores the dirty look that Jongdae sends him.

“Is there any difference between the aura of the Tree you felt before and after I’ve arrived?” Jongdae asks Luhan instead.

Luhan frowns a little as he searches for that familiar pulsation, then slowly nods in reply. “It’s a little stronger than before, but I still can’t pinpoint its location.” He sighs slightly as Jongin wraps an arm around his shoulders. Even after Baekhyun joins them it might still be a problem finding the Tree of Life, judging by the small difference Jongdae’s presence made.

“We’ll find a way somehow, Luhan hyung. We’ve survived that initial catastrophe on EXO Planet and made it all the way to Earth despite being almost completely drained of our powers. I’m sure we’ll get through this.” Sehun flashes an encouraging grin at Luhan, attempting to lift the gloomy mood that had settled in. Luhan smiles at their youngest, and reaches out to pat his hand. Sehun beams in return.

Jongdae bites back a yawn as Junmyeon’s thumb smooths across his hand. “So, we’re basically done for the night right? I still need to get used to all these schedules and all.”

Luhan nods in reply, and this time Jongdae closes his eyes to concentrate on the electric current that he can feel throbbing in his veins like an old friend. The lights come back on around them, and the fan whirs to life over their head.

He cranes his neck slightly to peek out the window and is glad to see that the lights around the rest of the neighbourhood have come back on too. The only thing that Jongdae has left untouched are the nine CCTVs that have been hidden surreptitiously around different areas of the dorm. He is infinitely pleased with his handiwork, and Junmyeon chides him slightly in the confines of his mind.

This just causes Jongdae to grin widely as he tugs Junmyeon up with him from the ground and up the stairs.

“Good night! I’m going to get my cuddle time!” Hoots of laughter and catcalls follow them up the stairs as Junmyeon’s laughter echoes in Jongdae’s ears. Jongdae mentally flips a finger at them, only to receive more howls of laughter, and he decides that it’s best to ignore the bunch of trolls downstairs.

Besides, he has _much_ better things to do with Junmyeon anyway.

 

*****

 

The next day, Jongdae’s friends who had been instrumental in sending in his audition CD and dragging him to _Everysing_ are completely baffled when he sends them a mass text that is filled with “THANK YOU!!!!111!!!!” and a disgusting amount of emoticons that he _never_ uses.

Jongdae just cackles at the “??????” texts that he gets back from them as Junmyeon pinches his cheek affectionately and presses a kiss to his cheek before getting ready for the day.

Across the city, Jongmin is cursing when he sees that nine out of the numerous screens in their security room for monitoring the guardians is only displaying static.

 


	22. {21} fade in; fade out

Baekhyun wakes up with a start when someone smacks his head hard. He looks down blearily at the books that he’s been sleeping on, and groans when he realises that some of the notes that he has made looks a lot lighter than the rest of it, and figures that he has just earned some temporary graphite tattoos courtesy of his own handwriting on his face.

“Wake up, sleepyhead,” his hyung says, amused. Baekhyun is a bit surprised to see his elder brother there because he had moved out long ago after finding a job and rarely, if ever, returned home.

“Hyung,” Baekhyun grits out in a still half-asleep voice, hoarse and scratchy. “What are you doing here? I thought mum mentioned that you were on a business trip.”

The older man shrugs and plops down on Baekhyun’s bed. “I sealed the deal early and cut the trip short,” he reaches forward to mess with Baekhyun’s hair and earns a noise of protest from his younger brother. “And to see my favourite brother of course.”

“I’m your _only_ brother.” Baekhyun mutters as he gets up from his desk and heads towards the bathroom to wash up. “Are you staying for dinner then?”

“When do I never?” His brother chuckles as he pulls Baekhyun into a headlock.

“Ow! Hyung!” He sputters, and they play-fight until their mother calls up and tells them that dinner is ready. Midway through dinner, however, someone rings the bell and interrupts them. The family exchanges odd glances with one another, wondering who their guest was; no one in the family ever invited anyone over after the clock strikes 8pm after all.

Baekhyun goes to answer the door. He peeks through the peephole and sees an older man there, dressed in an impeccable suit. The boy is puzzled, and cracks the door open as far as the chain-latch allows him to; better be safe than sorry, you never knew who would be an axe-murderer, no matter how well-dressed they were.

“Yes? May I help you?” Baekhyun asks warily, still eyeing the man with suspicion. The man smiles genially at him through the space between the door and the door frame, unfazed.

“Good evening. Are you Byun Baekhyun?” The voice sounds pleasant, but something in his eyes makes Baekhyun want to balk.

Baekhyun promptly feels his muscles freezing up and the blood draining from his face at the mention of his name. He’s tempted to deny it and tell the man that he had gotten the wrong house, but judging by the way the man was scrutinising him, silently waiting for his response, Baekhyun suddenly feels very vulnerable. It’s as though the man can read his mind, and is quietly challenging him to make a move. He swallows thickly at the thought of it.

“Who wants to know?” Baekhyun replies, and hopes that it doesn’t sound too much like a challenge to the man.

“Oh, I’m terribly sorry for not introducing myself earlier,” the man bows slightly in apology, and reaches inside his coat for something. Baekhyun fervently hoped that it _isn’t_ a gun; he had seen it happening way too many times in the movies. The man again acted as though he _knew_ what Baekhyun was thinking, for a muffled chuckle escapes his lips as he pulls out a card holder. “My name’s Jung Songhyun, and I’m a talent scout from SM Entertainment.” He hands Baekhyun the card through the space between the door and the door frame.

_Don’t worry, I’m not an axe murderer either_. Baekhyun jerks back as if burned when he hears a voice in his mind.

“Do give me a call if you’re interested to come in for the auditions,” Jung Songhyun bows once again and then walks away before he even receives a reply, getting into a sleek black sedan, which drives away soon after he gets into it. Baekhyun closes the door, pulse erratic under his skin.

_What the_ fuck _just happened?_ He thought in confusion.

Baekhyun must’ve had the puzzled expression still when he makes his way back to the dining table with the name card in hand. His parents and older brother stops in the midst of their eating to observe him closely. “Sweetheart, everything okay? Who was that at the door?” His mother asks, making Baekhyun jolt out of his trance-like state.

“Um.” Baekhyun starts, still in shock. His brother guides him back to his seat while Baekhyun is still stuck in his stupor, then takes the card from him.

“Jung Songhyun, S.M. Entertainment, _Head of Trainee Department?_ ” His brother reads off incredulously. “How on earth did you attract such people to our house anyway?” Baekhyun blinks owlishly at him as his parents gush over the name card and his brother passes it to them for inspection.

“Um. I. Didn’t?” Baekhyun mutters under his breath. “I’ve never seen him before.” There is a tinge of something familiar about that man though, Baekhyun realises, but he can’t quite put his finger on it.

“Have you been going for these underground gigs again?” Baekhyun’s father asks, his tone laced with slight anger and displeasure. He wasn’t one to go against his sons’ interests, but Baekhyun had to sit for his university entrance exams soon, and he didn’t want his studies to be affected.

His mother hushes his father. “You know he’s been coming straight home after school dear. Our Baekhyunnie knows his priorities, without you having to pressure him about it.” Baekhyun nods woodenly to his mother’s comments, his mind still mostly occupied by the stranger and their strange encounter earlier.

“How did the person find you, then?” His mother is more excited than he himself is, as she tilts and turns the card around under the light.

Baekhyun frowns as he tries to think back amongst the various competitions that he joined, where he might have attracted the attention of such a person (even the cross-dressing competition, but that was _years_ back). His frown deepens when nothing comes to mind. If the talent scout had his eyes on Baekhyun from those competitions, wouldn’t he have approached him long ago? He doesn’t remember having sent in any entries for those online competitions either, and he hasn’t even sent in the application forms for the prospective universities he intends to apply for yet.

“I really have no idea, mom. Maybe they saw the videos that my friends posted on the internet,” he picks at his food, mechanically shovelling rice and kimchi jjigae into his mouth as he thinks while he chews. Baekhyun’s mother places the name card close enough to Baekhyun that he notices it and nods, but not enough for him to dirty the card with his food.

“Well, you could always try calling him,” his mother begins, finishing off her sentence quickly before his father can protest, “but after your exams of course.”

“Mmhmm.” He hums around his spoon. “I’ll definitely think about it.” Baekhyun says to placate her. His brother eyes him thoughtfully.

The actual truth of the fact is that Baekhyun is so unsettled by the encounter that if he had his way, he would burn out the memory of Jung Songhyun ever having showed up on his doorstep in the first place. It unsettled him way too much for his liking, especially with the appearance of the voice in his mind as the man handed his name card over to him.

Top entertainment agency in South Korea or not, Baekhyun would be thinking his decision of even _calling_ up Jung Songhyun for a very, _very_ long time.

 

******

 

Sooman looks up from the pile of paperwork on his desk as Songhyun walks in unannounced.

“How badly have you scared away the last boy now?” He deadpans as he shuffles the papers on his desk, signing them crisply as he lets the ink dry on each sheet before going to the next one.

“What? He looked dazed, but I don’t think he’s scared of me.” Songhyun snaps indignantly, taking a seat across Sooman.

“Point being _think_.” Sooman quips happily. “You don’t know for sure; or do you?” Songhyun scowls at the other man.

“You’re such a spoilsport.” He grumbles. “And here I thought you’d be happy to hear that we’ve found one of the best singers that you could slot into either of the groups.”

“I’d rather you follow the _normal_ official channels, rather than _going straight to a potential trainee’s house_.” Sooman points out as he arranges a stack of papers in one pile neatly. “And knowing you, you probably did something to his mind didn’t you?”

Songhyun shrugs. “Not really. I merely corrected him when he thought that I was an axe-murderer.” Sooman stares at him incredulously.

“Good grief. And you say that he’s _not_ scared of you? I hope you haven’t really scared him off that he doesn’t even _think_ about entering our agency.”

“Oops, that’s probably a little _too_ late.” The older man winces as he searches for Baekhyun’s mind. “He just made up his mind; he’s not even going to ring me up to schedule for his auditions.” It’s a good thing that Sooman’s stare isn’t as bad as Woojung’s or Youngmin’s; Songhyun thinks he would be dead before he even said ‘help!’

“Way to mess things up. Are you going to tamper with his mind anytime soon, like what you did to that Jongdae boy?” Songhyun sits meekly in the swivel chair, trying not to fidget under Sooman’s piercing and accusatory stare.

“Um. No?” He clears his throat as Sooman stares harder at him. “I mean, no. No, I won’t tamper with his mind any further.” Songhyun amends his answer quickly, because obviously, that wasn’t what Sooman wanted to hear.

The other man sits back in his seat, nodding in a satisfied manner now that he has gotten the answer that he wants from Songhyun. Songhyun lets his breath out in a rush that he hadn’t been aware he was holding in. The type of intensity that Sooman has is different to Woojung’s, Youngmin’s and at times, Kwangyeol’s intimidation tactics, but he is nonetheless a force to be reckoned with. Songhyun tends to forget that most of the time because Sooman is always so genial.

“Do you have Plan B up, then?” Sooman questions with a smirk as he signs several documents and pushes them aside, then turning his attention _completely_ on Songhyun. “You said it yourself – the boy is a gem to have. We can’t afford to let him fall into the hands of another company, can we now?” The always unmentioned ‘ _We need to have him because of the Tree of Life’_ hangs between them.

“With Jongmin constantly meddling in our plans, do you think that I’d let myself live it down if I didn’t have another plan in hand?” Songhyun scoffs indignantly. “I’m not going to use my abilities on this boy.”

Sooman raises an eyebrow at Songhyun. “This is a first; don’t you _always_ use your abilities to influence people?”

Songhyun sniffs. “Give me a little more credit than that. I _do_ use my brain for other things too, you know. It’s only that bunch of kids that I really use my abilities on anyway.” Sooman snorts slightly in disbelief.

“Why are you stopping now? He’s the last one to join, isn’t he?”

Now it’s Songhyun’s turn to raise his eyebrows at Sooman incredulously. “But didn’t you just imply that you _didn’t_ want me to use my abilities on him?”

“Ah,” Sooman wags a finger and clicks his tongue at Songhyun. “ _Never_ assume.” He gestures with his hand for Songhyun to lean forward.

“Now _this_ , is what you should do.”

 

******

 

Baekhyun is stumbling down the road, cursing under his breath as he checks his watch, trying not to trip over his own shoes as he rushes down towards the subway station. The exam starts in half an hour and he isn’t sure that he’d have the time to make it there, no thanks to his waking up late because of his faulty alarm clock. He even got dressed in record time, foregoing his breakfast in the process.

He curses and clamps his hand on his stomach when it emits an embarrassing rumble, mentally soothing the protest with the promise of a sumptuous breakfast after his exams were done. Making it to the university entrance exams is a life-and-death situation for him, as far as his future is concerned. Breakfast can wait.

Baekhyun fumbles with his phone, trying to stuff it in his bag in irritation as he continued stumbling down the road. He lets out a startled yelp as the phone slides out of his hands instead and practically rolls down the slope in spite of all the gravel because it is so steep.

“Yah! Come back here, you!” Baekhyun ends up yelling and chasing after it like a maniac. He ignores the transfixed glances of the people watching this crazy boy rushing after a tumbling phone, until it comes to a stop at the end of the slope. Baekhyun himself tries not to roll down the slope as he runs, trying to decelerate.

A much taller, wide-eyed boy stumbles to Baekhyun’s phone suddenly, and picks it up, blinking.

“Hey! That’s mine!” Baekhyun yells. The tall boy turns in the direction of Baekhyun’s yell and his eyebrows rise comically.

“Baekhyun?!” He’s surprised by the deep voice that doesn’t seem to match the other boy’s cute face but before he can say anything like _how the hell do you know my name, I’ve never even seen you before_ , Baekhyun finds himself unable to stop in time, and sends the both of them tumbling to the ground instead in a tangle of limbs, both of them yelling indignantly at the sudden crash.

Baekhyun is promptly left confused for a short moment, before the panic alarms in his head that tells him _you’re going to be late if you don’t get your ass into the train within the next three minutes_ pounds in his head. He pulls himself up from the ground, and makes a mad dash for the stairwell leading to the subway station, not even bothering to apologise to or check on the person whom he had just very literally crashed into (who still happens to be groaning on the ground because his head got smacked into the asphalt no thanks to Baekhyun’s grand collision).

He doesn’t even notice that the phone he had barrelled down the road for in the first place is left there in the tall boy’s hands.

 

*****

 

Chanyeol keeps on fiddling with the device in his hands as he makes his way into the practising room, not knowing what he should do with it. The shiny black surface is now marred with dents and scraped off paint here and there that makes Chanyeol wince slightly. The phone otherwise looked brand new to him, and Chanyeol vaguely wonders whether a certain someone’s habits from the past ( _he_ used to take care of his things meticulously) carried over to this lifetime.

“Hyung!” He looks up as Jongin calls up to him, jogging over, shirt already semi-drenched in sweat. “What are you playing around with that’s more important than dance practice?” The younger boy jokes. Minseok and Sehun jog over as well, curious.

He blinks up at them, still a bit shell-shocked. “I think Baekhyun might have crashed into me earlier.”

“Baekhyun?!” The other boys chorused together, evidently surprised by the revelation. “Where did you bump into him? Why didn’t you bring him along to the company?”

“I... don’t know. I’m not even sure whether I was hallucinating.” Chanyeol blinks again, still feeling dazed by his encounter with the person whom he had been searching for all this while.

“At first I thought I saw him outside the convenience store that we normally go to, then I was chasing him down a street, and then he suddenly disappeared, and _then_ where he had been, there was this phone on the ground and I picked it up. There was somebody yelling and running down this slope and he _looked_ like Baekhyun, but he was running too fast and couldn’t stop and he practically _bowled me over_ , then got up without a word and ran off!” Chanyeol scrubs the back of his neck in frustration.

“So... you were chasing Baekhyun hyung down the street at one point of time, then saw him running in your direction _after_ you lost him the first time round?” Sehun asks, to which Chanyeol replies to with a hesitant nod. “That’s not very possible, is it?”

Jongin chews on his lip thoughtfully. “Unless the first Baekhyun hyung wasn’t _actually_ Baekhyun hyung in the first place, but just an illusion that was set up in order to find the _real_ Baekhyun hyung. Which I guess can be considered both a good thing and a bad thing.”

“But... _who_ is the one conjuring these illusions? I mean, assuming that your theories are right, that is.” Minseok points out.

“Don’t really know about the ‘ _who_ ’ part of it, but it seems as though we can attribute whoever it is to being in the same league as Mr. Jung and Kwangyeol-sonsaengnim,” Sehun mumbles as he wipes his face.

Chanyeol lays spread eagle on the carpeted floor next to Jongin, his hand still gripped tightly around Baekhyun’s phone. “This is a problem. We can’t let them know that we’re looking for Baekhyun, but we can’t afford to be a step slower than them in reaching Baekhyun either.”

Jongin turns on his side to regard the older boy with a smirk. “Well, there’s just one thing we can do, right? Luhan hyung agrees too.”

“What’s that?” Chanyeol turns his head to look at him warily.

Jongin’s toothy grin doesn’t disappoint. “Call up his parents.”

 

******

 

Baekhyun heaves a sigh of relief as he passes his exam paper down the row of to the examinee in front of him. The three hour paper for Kyunghee University’s entrance exam was gruelling and he felt as though his brains had been scraped clean.

He packs his stationery back into his bag, then paws around inside to grab his cell phone. His brow furrows when he realises that it doesn’t seem to be anywhere inside his bag after pushing the items inside around, even to the point of taking everything out of his bag (even all the odd bits and bobs that have been inside the bag since _forever_ ). Then he remembers the collision he had earlier in the morning when he was rushing for the subway and groans. He must’ve left his phone there in his panic.

Baekhyun literally deflates in his seat at the realisation. What are the chances that his phone would be picked up by someone that would actually return it to him? It was by no means new, but many important information and contacts were stored inside so it was a hassle for him to lose it. He briefly toys with the possibility of going back to that area and asking any of the shop owners around whether they had seen his phone, before canning the idea completely. His phone would’ve probably been nicked by desperate souls or ran over by cars by now.

Would the boy that he’d probably outright flattened have picked up his phone and kept it? Baekhyun picks at the shoulder strap of his bag as he exits the exam hall. He can’t even remember what the other boy looks like – he gives himself a mental smack as he realises he didn’t even _apologise_ for running into him before running off in addition to that.

In any case, there’s no use crying over spilt milk – or his lost phone for that matter – but he just hopes his parents won’t grill him _too_ badly once they find out that he’s lost his phone.

 

*****

 

Chanyeol hesitates as he was about to ring the doorbell, clutching onto the phone in his hands as though it gave him some sort of comfort. Following Jongin’s advice earlier, he had mustered the courage to go through Baekhyun’s contact list (never mind that it was a gross invasion of Baekhyun’s privacy) and rang his house number up. Baekhyun’s mother had picked up the phone on the second ring and had thanked Chanyeol profusely for picking up after her son’s clumsiness. When he had asked whether it’d be better for him to meet up with her or Baekhyun so that he could pass the phone back, she had asked him to come over to the house for dinner in lieu of thanks.

(Chanyeol isn’t sure whether Baekhyun’s mother is overly nice or overly naïve because you know, he could be an axe murderer or something.)

Now that he’s here, Chanyeol starts to rethink his decision. He would appear creepy to Baekhyun for coming all the way to his house... right? Then again, he’d promised Baekhyun’s mother that he would come for dinner, and he doesn’t want to shun her good intentions. Chanyeol sighs, then presses the doorbell.

He is taken aback when a too-bright middle-aged woman greets him, but he quickly recognises her to be Baekhyun’s mother. It’s obvious where his features come from. She ushers him into the house as if he’s one of Baekhyun’s friends and he bows when he sees Baekhyun’s father in the living room. The man eyes him with a no-nonsense look and Chanyeol resists the urge to gulp.

Chanyeol is left fiddling nervously with his fingers when Baekhyun’s mother pushes him to take a seat and leaves him alone with Baekhyun’s father so that she could finish preparing their dinner. The silence unnerves him, and hearing the sniggering – courtesy of Jongin, Luhan, and Jongdae – at the back of his mind didn’t help things either. No amount of chiding from Kyungsoo or Junmyeon seems to be able to get them to stop laughing, but after a while, he doesn’t hear Jongdae’s snark as much. He supposes that Junmyeon found a way to shut Jongdae up, but Chanyeol really doesn’t want to know the details. He puts up a mental wall against the both of them just in case, which leads to even more sniggering from Jongin and Luhan. At least the pair never tried to give everyone else a distasteful insight to their relationship.

After ten minutes of stilted conversation with Baekhyun’s father, Chanyeol hears the front door open and close again, and a boy’s voice calls out “I’m home!” Chanyeol easily recognises it to be Baekhyun’s, but he wills himself to stay put. Baekhyun doesn’t know him – at least not _yet_ – and he really doesn’t want to scare the other boy off. He turns instead to the sound of Baekhyun removing his shoes and walking into the house. There is a lot of shuffling before Baekhyun appears in view, and has yet to notice Chanyeol because he is fiddling around with something inside his bag.

“Mom, I-” He blinks when he looks up and sees Chanyeol sitting there. “Oh, hi, welcome to the Byun household.” Chanyeol nods slightly in acknowledgement and flashes an awkward smile at Baekhyun. The older boy nods back at him and greets his father, then disappears into the kitchen to greet his mother.

“Aren’t you his friend?” Baekhyun’s father asks him seconds later, causing Chanyeol to stiffen in his seat.

Chanyeol coughs in response. “Um. Actually I just picked up his phone when he dropped it this morning so, no, I actually don’t know your son.” Baekhyun’s father opens his mouth to say something, when his mother calls out and tells them that dinner is ready. Baekhyun has disappeared upstairs for a quick shower before coming down for dinner.

Chanyeol again fidgets under the scrutiny later, this time from Baekhyun who had his eyes narrowed in Chanyeol’s direction. “Um, sorry for being rude, but may I know who are you?” He asks moments later, and Chanyeol very nearly smacked his own forehead at the question. Baekhyun’s mother smacks him on the head with a ladle for being rude.

“Erm. Hi, I’m Park Chanyeol, and I picked up your phone that you dropped this morning..?” Chanyeol digs the phone in question out of his pocket and hands it over to the other boy. “Here. I know it looks a bit worse for wear but I tried to clean it up as much as possible.”

Baekhyun practically launches himself across the table and at the phone. “Oh my _God_ a miracle _did_ happen! Thank you so, so much! I don’t know what I would’ve done without this phone. You’re a lifesaver!”

Chanyeol breaks out into his trademark grin for the first time that night. “Ah, it’s nothing. You’re welcome! Just, err, maybe try not to speed down slopes next time, yeah?” He chuckles lightly and Baekhyun grins sheepishly.

“Yeah, about that, sorry for the collision course and all. I was rushing for an entrance exam.”

“Boys, please finish up your dinner before engaging in the chit-chat. It’s rude to keep the elders waiting.” Baekhyun’s father speaks up then, and the two boys immediately nod and dig in right after Baekhyun’s parents have started to eat. Chanyeol praises Baekhyun’s mother’s cooking because it really _is_ delicious (the food that Kyungsoo cooks is great too, but there’s always a difference in how homely food tastes because of a mother’s cooking – no matter how much they tease Kyungsoo for being the ‘mother’ of their group).

After Chanyeol helped Baekhyun to clear up the dishes (despite the latter insisting that he is a guest of the house and has no obligations to do so), Baekhyun drags him out of the house just so they could talk.

“So... thanks again for picking up my phone. I’m really, really, _really_ sorry for just running off like that without even apologising. Did you get injured or anything?” The older boy apologises profusely.

Chanyeol laughs, shaking his head. “I’ve got a much harder head than that and I’ve had worse anyway. Didn’t even affect my moves during dance practice.”

Baekhyun blinks. “Dance practice? Are you a dancer or something? But you look so young!”

Chanyeol’s eyes thin to crescents as he smiles. “No, I’m a trainee actually. In S.M. Entertainment. I’ve been there for a few years now.”

“That’s awesome! Someone from the company actually came to my house the other day and-” Baekhyun starts rambling off, only to be interrupted mid-sentence when Chanyeol suddenly grabs him by the shoulders and stares at him seriously.

“Who was it?” Baekhyun is taken aback by the seriousness in Chanyeol’s face and voice. What happened to the boy who had been laughing in such a carefree manner earlier?

“Chanyeol-ssi, you’re hurting me,” Baekhyun winces when Chanyeol increased the pressure on his shoulder, and the taller boy seemed to snap out of his previous state and releases his hold on Baekhyun at once.

“I’m sorry,” Chanyeol mutters, keeping his hands to himself. “I just – I _need_ to know who came to look for you the other day,” Baekhyun looks at him strangely.

“Why, is there something wrong with the agency or something that I need to know about?” He quirks an eyebrow at the taller boy.

“It’s not really the company, but rather, I’d like to make sure that you won’t get into trouble.” Chanyeol answers, only to shake his head in response when Baekhyun cocked his head to the side, evidently confused by what Chanyeol was trying to put across. “Nevermind. Just- if a certain Jung Songhyun approaches you, _please_ , don’t believe in everything he says.”

Baekhyun’s eyes widened. “That’s _exactly_ who came to our house the other day!” Chanyeol looks sharply at him. “There was something really creepy about him and uh, this might sound crazy but, I think I he might’ve read my mind. I thought I heard a voice in my head telling me that he wasn’t an axe murderer.” The older boy laughs weakly, trying to pass it off as a joke.

Deep inside, however, Chanyeol curses at the fact that Songhyun _did_ attempt to trespass Baekhyun’s mind. Luhan and Jongin, who catches on to his thoughts, turn grim as well.

“Well. In the first place, _are_ you interested in joining SME?” Chanyeol asks him frankly.

“I don’t know; my parents aren’t exactly against it, but I’m still thinking about it. Do you think I should?” Baekhyun purses his lips as he asks the tall boy. “Can you tell me a bit about what trainee life is like? What should I expect? What about the prospects?”

“Hmm... you know what? Maybe you should come over to my dorm or something, have a look around first before you think about whether you actually want to join or not. And talk to some of the other trainees as well. The guys I share a dorm with are a pretty mixed bunch, we’ve got at least five solid vocalists there, so maybe they can tell you something I can’t. I’m tasked with more of rapping and dancing.” Chanyeol smiles as he tells Baekhyun what Luhan has mentally told him. “What do you think?”

Baekhyun breaks into a broad grin. “Sounds great.”

Chanyeol knuckles Baekhyun on the shoulder lightly. “Alright then, give me your number and I’ll give you mine so I can text you the details and stuff as to when you can come over when our dorm manager isn’t in. We’re not allowed to bring strangers in so we’ll have to sneak you in.” Baekhyun opens his mouth to protest, but Chanyeol cuts him off before he can start.

“Don’t worry about it! My friends are pretty cool, so they won’t mind at all.” He glances at his watch before sticking his hands into his pockets of his pants. “It’s getting a bit late so I’d better get back soon otherwise the dorm manager will have my head.” The toothy grin Chanyeol gives Baekhyun makes the older boy a little breathless. “I’ll see you soon then!”

He pokes his head back into the door to tell Baekhyun’s mother and father goodbye before he waves to Baekhyun and starts off down the road. Baekhyun finds himself watching Chanyeol until he was long gone, wondering why the taller boy’s presence felt so familiar to him.

 


	23. {22} see the light

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> double update this week :)

Chanyeol is all easy smiles and toothy grins as he engages in a lively conversation with Baekhyun. As promised, he had called Baekhyun up the moment the long weekend rolled around, since their dorm manager had left them alone to return to his hometown. He’s thankful that Baekhyun was all-too-delighted to agree to the request, and Chanyeol was, of course, all-too-fast to offer to pick Baekhyun up at his house.

Luhan and Jongin didn’t allow him to live that down for the _entire fucking week_.

“So here’s the deal,” Chanyeol quips again as they neared the double-storey house he calls his second home. “There’s like... eleven of us in total, and the other guys might overwhelm you _quite_ a bit.”

Baekhyun frowns slightly at the taller boy. “What do you mean by that? Are they like, overbearing or arrogant or something?” Chanyeol waves his hands quickly in a negative gesture.

“Oh, no, it’s nothing like that. It’s more like they can be _overly_ friendly, you can say, so don’t be surprised if a huge bunch – if not _all_ of them – might probably bowl you over.”

Baekhyun gives him a strange look and a wary smile. “If you say so, then.” He’s more than a little curious as to what Chanyeol’s fellow trainees are like after that.

Contrary to what Baekhyun is expecting from Chanyeol’s housemates after the taller boy had warned him about them, the pair walks into the house blinking at the silence and tranquillity of the unit. Several boys were sprawled across the sofa and the carpeted floor when he enters the living room, and instead of bowling him over, they look up from their books and magazines and newspaper and flashes an amiable smile at Baekhyun.

“Um,” Baekhyun gently nudges Chanyeol in the side, voice in a hushed whisper. “I thought you said they’d tackle me to the ground in five seconds? They look... quiet.”

“Don’t be fooled by them. It’s some kind of reverse psychology,” Chanyeol whispers back. He glares at one of the boys with a sharp jawline and high cheekbones, who is grinning impishly back at Chanyeol with his head pillowed in another boy’s lap. Both of them wave.

“Welcome back, Chanyeol. Is this _the_ Byun Baekhyun you’ve been telling us about?” The boy who currently has his lap occupied gently shoves the first boy off his lap, coming to stand in front of them both. “Hi, I’m Kim Junmyeon, it’s nice to meet you.”

Another boy bounces lightly down the stairs and comes to a perfectly poised stop in front of Baekhyun; his soft features and large eyes makes Baekhyun do a double take, and he thinks that the boy is _beautiful_. Like a doll. “I have _absolutely no idea_ what Chanyeol told you about us-” he begins with a bright, innocent-looking smile, but something seems off-ish with his intonation; it’s almost as though the boy’s trying to hold back his laughter. Baekhyun thought he heard Chanyeol’s quiet snarl coming from behind. “-but we’re all nice people, _really_. I’m Luhan, by the way.”

A much taller boy pads down the stairs quietly, and Baekhyun just stares because _how is he taller than Chanyeol when Chanyeol is a tall beanstalk already_. He looks as if he’s just stepped out of a magazine, what with his striking features and confident posture. “Has Chanyeol been telling stories again?” It seems to be his way of teasing Chanyeol but Baekhyun isn’t quite sure whether the tall boy is joking or not because his expression seems to be set in a scowl.

“Oh, you would know that perfectly well, Kris hyung,” Chanyeol deadpans and rolls his eyes at the group. “Okay guys, drop the act. You’re making me lose all my credibility here.”

The olive-skinned boy sprawled across the sofa looks up with a lazy smirk from the book of manhwa that he’s reading.

“ _What_ credibility would that be, Chanyeol hyung?”

Baekhyun smothers a chuckle when Chanyeol flips a finger at the boy. “Fuck off, Jongin.” The taller boy growls.

“Jongin right though, Chanyeol hyung. _What credibility?_ ” Another tall boy who looks as though his eyebags are painted onto his skin and rolling around the carpet looks up at them, upside-down, voice accented and with incorrect grammar.

“Not you too, Zitao.” A groan erupts from Chanyeol, who runs a hand through his hair in frustration. “If you guys want to keep up with this game, fine, entertain yourselves. I’ll take Baekhyun somewhere else instead.”

A head pokes out of the kitchen, and Baekhyun notices that this boy’s eyes look really wide. “Are they back already?” He takes notice of Baekhyun and smiles, wiping his hands on a dish cloth before depositing it onto the table. He smiles, offering a hand to Baekhyun.

“Hi, you must be Baekhyun right? I’m Do Kyungsoo. Please don’t believe any of the tales that Chanyeol has been telling you, they’re all lies.” The taller boy groans, but Kyungsoo doesn’t lose his smile. Baekhyun likes the guy already. He thinks that the boy seems familiar, too, and _where have I seen him before?_ briefly crosses his mind.

“You’re trolls.” Chanyeol mutters under his breath. “All of you.”

A boy with a round face and slightly chubby cheeks raises a hand from his position on the carpet. “I protest.” A pale, thin shadow of a boy mimics his action. “I protest too. I haven’t done anything of the sort to antagonise you. Yet.”

Another boy emerges from the kitchen and leans against the wall, arms crossed as he smiles at the lot of them. “Are we done trolling and can we get to the main event yet?”

“You’re such a spoilsport, Yixing. We were enjoying Chanyeol’s exasperation, if you haven’t noticed,” the boy called Luhan mumbles begrudgingly and throws himself onto the couch, the previous traces of perpetual gentleness and soft smiles erased from his being.

The boy called Yixing smiles wider, and there’s something a lot cheekier than there had been before. “Ge, don’t mistake me, I’m talking about _the_ main event.” Luhan’s head jerks towards him, then he looks in Baekhyun’s direction.

“I call it!” Before Baekhyun can blink, Luhan is latched onto him, head blocking his view, but in the periphery, he can see the other boys getting up and joining in. Chanyeol splutters, and Baekhyun isn’t sure whether he’s laughing or choking – or both. But all Baekhyun can register in his mind is his oxygen supply is dwindling rapidly from the combined weight of ten other guys on top of him, that it’s painful to even breathe, and he’s actually surprised that his ribs haven’t cracked yet. He blinks slowly, _so this is what Chanyeol meant_.

Chanyeol is peering at him above the pile of laughing boys, some of whom are flailing their limbs about happily. “Sorry, I did warn you but I didn’t think that they’d actually pull this off.” He winces, and then turns to the rest of his housemates. “Guys, I’m going to give you five seconds to haul your asses off Baekhyun, or I’m going to set you on fire.”

Yixing, who is at the top of the pile looks at him, blinks slowly but doesn’t get off the pile. “Minseok hyung can just ice you straight away, and Junmyeon can just drench you. And then I can heal them if you cause any burns.” Baekhyun feels a bit faint at the words that he’s hearing, not understanding their inside joke, but he thinks it’s more because he’s being deprived of oxygen.

Chanyeol lets out a noise that’s a mixture of a whine and a grunt, and then he exhales loudly in exasperation. “At this rate, you’re going to give him asphyxia; he’s going to die from the lack of air. Unless you want him dead and our happy little reunion ruined, then please, by all means, don’t get up,” he says, and Baekhyun finds his eyes widening in anxiety. Chanyeol isn't going to leave him here to fend for himself, is he?

Yixing sighs, pouting slightly. “Spoilsport,” but he gets off the pile, and the other boys roll off slowly, although the boy called Junmyeon has to pull one of them off bodily.

“Jongdae,” He warns, and the other boy makes a face, allowing himself to be pulled up and then drapes himself over Junmyeon with a satisfied sound. The shorter boy staggers slightly due to the unexpected weight before pushing Jongdae onto the couch with a scowl. “Not _now_.”

“Hmph.” The taller boy frowns, while Luhan gets off of Baekhyun. Chanyeol helps the dazed and clueless boy off the floor.

“Are you alright? You’re not injured or anything right?” He pats at Baekhyun’s shoulders and arms, as if checking for any wounds that might have ensued from the pile-up. The shorter boy shakes his head, smiling up at Chanyeol, who then looks a bit less worried after. Baekhyun thinks he hears a few snickers, but when he turns to look, all of them are straight-faced, although Jongin and Luhan have amused smiles on their lips.

“Um...” Baekhyun begins with uncertainty and gives an awkward wave of his hand. “Hi? My name’s Byun Baekhyun, but I’m sure Chanyeol has told you about me.”

“Oh yeah, he told us _all_ about you.” Jongdae grins, and Baekhyun thinks he looks a bit like a fox when his eyes crinkle at the sides.

“Jongdae...” Chanyeol says warningly, then turns to Baekhyun with a pleading expression. “Don’t listen to him. His words can’t be trusted half the time.”

“Behave, _or else_.” Junmyeon, who’s now sitting on the armrest of the couch, gives Jongdae a piercing look, and the other boy finally sits back with a pout.

“Alright, I’ll be good.”

“So,” Luhan chirps as he places an arm around Baekhyun’s shoulders and pulls him towards the sofa to take a seat. “Chanyeol told us that Jung Songhyun paid a visit to your house. Could you enlighten us about the incident?”

Baekhyun’s face takes on a serious look. “He invited me to take part in the SME auditions, but I really have no idea how he managed to discover my home address. Is there... something wrong?” His eyes flick between Jongin and Luhan as they exchange a serious look.

“He’s... not exactly dangerous per se, but we’d recommend that the less contact you have with him, the better.” Luhan says in a cryptic manner. “In any case, I’m not too worried about that since he doesn’t seem to have tampered with your mind...”

Baekhyun blinks at him. “What are you talking about, Luhan-ssi?”

“Tampered or not, he seems to be having some difficulty in remembering us.” The olive-skinned boy, who was hanging upside down over the armrest of the sofa, makes a comment before Luhan could even reply to Baekhyun’s question.

The boy who looks like a tall model leaning against the wall – Kris, if Baekhyun recalls correctly – mutters, “And they said I was the slow one.”

“Maybe Chanyeol should get involved in a steamy make out session with Baekhyun to stimulate his thoughts.” Yixing suggests innocently (or not so?), causing Chanyeol to turn beet red and splutter as he tries to find the appropriate retort to that.

Baekhyun’s cheeks turn pink as he looks at Yixing. It’s not that Chanyeol isn’t attractive but... “What would making out with Chanyeol have anything to do with my memory? And why would I remember you guys when I’ve never met you before?”

He can hear some muttering going on between Jongdae and Junmyeon on the couch, the slightly taller boy mumbling, “Why didn’t we try that earlier?” and Junmyeon’s long-suffering sigh before he replies, “You got what you wanted anyway, so _hush_ for now!”

Yixing smiles at Baekhyun and ignores the other pair’s banter. “You used to have the biggest crush on Chanyeol in the past; in a way this is a win-win situation, don’t you think?” Chanyeol proceeds to slap his own face in agony, thinking that he couldn’t be more humiliated than he is now.

Baekhyun sneaks a glance to the taller boy who is in such a bright shade of red that he thinks it looks as though Chanyeol had swallowed a habanero pepper whole. “I did?” It sounds a lot stranger than he thinks, but at the same time it doesn’t seem _that_ strange at all. The other boys in the room nods fervently in affirmation, much to Chanyeol’s dismay.

The boy with panda eyes rolls upright on the carpet to look at him, head tilted before saying in accented Korean. “Other time, other place, other planet.” Baekhyun thinks he must be hearing wrong.

“Excuse me? I don’t quite understand what you’re trying to put across.” He says, though some part of his mind tells him that he _knows_ what the boy is talking about; he just can’t remember. The boy gestures him closer and Baekhyun bends down closer.

“Kiss him, then you know.” Baekhyun’s eyes widen comically at the whisper in his ears, and he looks at the boy incredulously. It seems that he is perfectly serious because his expression doesn’t change a whit.  

“You don’t have to listen to them,” Chanyeol repeats for what seemed like the hundredth time that morning, evidently flustered at the turn of events. “ _Seriously._ ”

“It _does_ help, you know?” Baekhyun looks over to meet Jongdae’s gaze, and there is no hint that he is joking at all, eyes completely serious. “I remembered more when Junmyeon kissed me.”

Junmyeon clears his throat and presses an open palm against Jongdae’s mouth to shut him up. “Too much information from you, Jongdae.” The boy hanging upside down on the armrest sits himself up, claps his hands over his ears muttering, “Hear no evil, see no evil,” over and over again. (“Jongin hyung, you missed out the ‘speak no evil’ part,” the tall pale boy on the cover points out oh-so-helpfully.)

“What exactly am I supposed to remember?” Baekhyun questions. “I’m sure I haven’t met you guys before... wait. I don’t even know what’s going on in my head anymore.” He blinks when something flashes in front of his eyes; he knows it isn’t a recent memory, but... where did it come from? More images seem to rush across his line of sight, and Baekhyun closes his eyes as if the images will become much clearer, more vivid, and he can feel Luhan’s hand on his back, voice whispering to him, but he can’t hear the words.

He sees the rest of the boys in front of him, yet it _wasn’t_ them, what with their odd clothing and even more foreign environment. Before he could even ascertain anything from the image, more and more of them kept pouring in, flitting past his eyes in an insane speed, making his head throb in response. He felt extremely confused, no longer knowing what’s real and what’s not. A hand supports his weight when Baekhyun’s knees go weak, and he flashes a smile in an unknown direction because he _can’t see_ and it’s really freaking him out, but somehow a certain level of calmness was maintained by an external force, wrapping him like a warm cocoon.

Baekhyun vaguely hears Luhan’s voice as if from very far away. “He’s remembering everything right now. Give it a bit more and get some aspirin just in case. Guys, off the couch; let him lie down.” He can feel the weight of people shifting on the couch and someone is slowly guiding him so that he’s lying back on the couch, head cushioned by a soft pillow while his brows are furrowed as the images keep coming, and the ache between his eyes keeps building.

He presses his hand against his mouth when he feels his breakfast rising in his throat, trying hard to force it back down because he _really_ _hates throwing up_. The onslaught of images – memories? – made his head spin even worse than the times where he had a hangover from his illegal drinking sessions during family functions. The feel of someone’s hand, warm on his forehead centres him so that the nauseous feeling recedes a little bit to the point where it is somewhat more bearable. He can hear the murmur of voices around him as the images finally stop coming and he tries to assimilate it all into his mind slowly.

When Baekhyun gingerly forces his eyes open moments later, he finds himself staring up at Chanyeol’s concerned face, and realises that he’s lying on the taller boy’s lap instead of a pillow. He immediately sits up in surprise from the feelings that take over his being, but soon learns that it’s a bad idea because the nausea attacks him with a renewed vengeance at the sudden change in position. Chanyeol forces him back down into a lying position and presses a warm towel against his forehead, courtesy of Kyungsoo.

“Stop moving around so much, Baekhyun. You’ll throw up for real if you don’t stay put.” Chanyeol frowns at him. Baekhyun throws an arm over his closed eyes as though it’ll help the blush that he knows is crawling up his neck – he can already feel the heat at his ears. (Chanyeol’s lap is entirely too comfortable.)

Jongdae’s quiet snicker before Junmyeon hushes him doesn’t escape his notice either.

“What the hell just happened?” Baekhyun groans in pain, every syllable of his words drumming against his skull. “My head feels like a stampede had just occurred in it.” There are fingers tentatively touching his hair, slightly threading through the strands; it must be Chanyeol.

“What do you remember now?” The taller boy’s voice is quiet, soothing against Baekhyun’s growing migraine.

“Everything and nothing,” Baekhyun mumbles, knowing that he isn’t making any sense. “I don’t know.”

“What do you remember from before then?” Luhan queries, and from the direction of his voice it sounds as though he’s sitting on the floor.

Baekhyun scrunches his forehead and digs through his mind, being careful not to overdo it. The dull ache still bothers him, though reduced in intensity. “The initiation ritual. Most of the things in between. The fight. But that’s about it. Everything’s a blank somewhere in the middle of the fight against _Chanyeol_ and Kris hyung.” He mumbles, visibly wincing at the memory of him going up against Chanyeol. _That_ was something he wished wasn’t real, but it was one of the clearest images that bloomed in his head. He felt Chanyeol go very still under his head, fingers frozen at the ends of his hair. Baekhyun gently squeezes the taller boy’s hand, telling Chanyeol that he didn’t blame him for that particular incident.

“It’s not surprising, though.” Luhan comments as he worries his lower lip. “Chanyeol knocked you out when you confronted him directly, so I wouldn’t expect you to know what had happened after. The short version is that their minds were being controlled. The reason why we are wary of Jung Songhyun is because he seems to be part of the group of people that we believe might have been involved in Chanyeol’s and Kris’ minds being controlled back on EXO Planet.”

“Is that why I heard his voice in my head the other day?” Baekhyun raises an eyebrow at Luhan.

“ _He entered your mind?!_ ” Jongin and Luhan hisses in tandem, looking very much alarmed by the information. “Why didn’t you tell us that earlier?”

“It’s not like I knew earlier that he’d actually done that, and before regaining my memories I thought I was just being paranoid or something. But now that you’ve mentioned it... that sounds like the most probable cause.” Baekhyun looks between the two of them seriously, a dull ache still throbbing against his temples, but the pain is slowly dissipating. “I think that answers who was responsible for screwing around with Chanyeol’s and Kris’ minds?”

“Now that you’ve mentioned it...” Chanyeol begins in a soft whisper, so close to being inaudible that the guardians thought he was using their mind channels instead. “I think... I know who controlled our minds back on EXO Planet.” He looks in Kris’ direction in a silent request for affirmation. The modelesque boy’s forehead is scrunched in concentration, as if remembering something as well. His eyes cut across to Baekhyun’s, and then meets Chanyeol’s.

Kris puts the words out into the open, voice slightly hesitant, but no less sure of what the outcome is. “Was that why our minds were taken over so easily? Because we thought that it was, that it sounded like-”

“Baekhyun’s mind voice,” Chanyeol whispers. “It sounded _exactly_ like Baekhyun.”

The boy in question raises his eyebrows at the pair, eyes wide in shock and confusion. “Me? But that’s- that’s impossible! You _know_ I wouldn’t do something like that to you, or to the planet!” He pleads to Chanyeol, who averted his gaze.

“We’re not trying to accuse you of brainwashing us into destroying EXO Planet, Baekhyun.” Kris says quietly. “What we meant was that these people who are in league with Jung Songhyun has the ability to mimic our mind voices, and it does not bode well for us if they can still do it now.”

Jongin is biting his thumb, deep in thought, brows furrowed. The playful air around the other guardians has disappeared as the alarming possibilities are hammered home. “Luhan hyung’s been able to block him out from our minds, but the illusion that Chanyeol hyung chased before he found Baekhyun hyung also means that they are someone, or _someones_ who are capable of spinning illusions as well.” He exchanges a look with Luhan. “If we change the frequency of Baekhyun’s mind to only correspond to ours that would be the same as what you’ve done for the rest of us, right hyung?”

Luhan nods slowly. “It would, but I’ll have to really, _really_ ensure that Jung Songhyun and whoever else is involved in this doesn’t find out about what I’ve done; otherwise it’ll be all for naught. The problem is, I don’t know whether they’re deliberately doing nothing, or whether they’re _trying_ to do something about it but _can’t_. Experience tells us that their actions are unpredictable.”

Minseok looks up sharply. “Is there any way we can ensure that he doesn’t find out for sure, though?” Luhan shakes his head.

“Right now it’s actually a lot of experimentation on our part and we’re not even sure whether it’s a hit-or-miss, much less whether we can be 100% sure that they don’t know.” He looks at Baekhyun as he chews his bottom lip lightly. “Baekhyun still needs to find some way to join us as a trainee so he would still have to come in contact with Jung Songhyun. If he goes into Baekhyun’s mind again and finds out that Baekhyun has already regained his memories, it might accelerate whatever plans they have. I’m not quite sure I want to risk that right now.”

“What are the chances of them knowing that Baekhyun hyung has regained his memories as a guardian, assuming a blockade is set up on our side?” Sehun questions, expressions serious. This is an incredibly sticky situation, that much he knew, but they can’t afford to allow Baekhyun to stay a distance away from them, now that they’ve discovered more about the incident at EXO Planet.

“Anywhere from thirty- to ninety-percent. I really can’t tell.” Luhan estimates; the figure is a lot larger than any of them would like, but it is the closest that they can guess.

The room falls silent for a long while, before Baekhyun finds his voice. “Would you let me take the risk of meeting Jung Songhyun again? I mean, he seemed insistent in getting me to join the company; even if we stay put, there’s no saying whether he’d come knocking again, is there?”

“There’s no going around it; by hook or by crook, you’ll definitely end up meeting Jung Songhyun again. He _is_ after all, the Head of the Trainee Department at SME, no matter what other abilities he might have.” Jongdae points out grimly, seated on one of the dining chairs. “At least if Luhan hyung blocks off that section of your mind there’s a lesser chance of them finding out. He got to me before I had a chance to meet up with everyone else, and I ended up signing the contract without even _remembering anything_. I think it’d be better to at least do some pre-emptive protection on our part if Luhan hyung can block off that part of your mind.”

“I have no problems with that, as long as _all_ of us understand the risk and what else may arise in the future. It’s your mind, your decision, Baekhyun.” Luhan offers a small smile at the younger boy, whom sucks in a deep breath and spells out his reply decisively.

“I’ll do it, if this is the only way we can take to find out what they’re up to. You have my complete trust, Luhan hyung, as you always have.”


	24. {23} sinister (i am the demon under your bed)

It’s a game to see who would last the longest without taking any action, between the Guardians and the administrative side of the company.

Baekhyun had agreed to Luhan placing a mental block on the part of his memories where he remembered about being a guardian on EXO Planet. They’d talked a bit longer about the possible ways they could proceed with finding the Tree of Life, now that all twelve of them have been found and are gathered together, but for now they would have to wait for Jung Songhyun to contact Baekhyun again. It wouldn’t pay for the Guardian of Light to look too eager when the head of the department had probably seen how Baekhyun had made his decision earlier about _not_ calling him up.

True enough, Jung Songhyun makes another appearance at Baekhyun’s doorstep about a month later, with that same plastic smile and disconcerting gaze that causes Baekhyun to squirm uncomfortably. But Baekhyun has an important mission at hand, and he quietly opens up his mind channel with a gentle nudge at Luhan and Jongin, all while praying that Jung Songhyun doesn’t catch up to his actions.

“Good afternoon again. Mr. Jung, was it?” Baekhyun greets good-naturedly, though he is on high-alert for any abnormal situations which may crop up. _Never trust Jung Songhyun_ , Luhan had said, and Baekhyun is hell-bent on keeping that in his mind. (This time he actually unchains the door, though.) He hopes that the man isn’t actively prodding his mind which would cause him to come into contact with the blockade Luhan had put up.

“Hello, Baekhyun-ssi. It’s nice to see you again. Have you thought about the proposition that I offered you last month? We are truly interested in having you as one of our trainees.” The disarming smile is back, complete with white teeth which is supposed to look sincere, but to Baekhyun, now that he knows who Jung Songhyun is, it looks like a row of crocodile teeth, waiting to snap him up.

“I have,” Baekhyun concurs, watching how Songhyun brightens up at the mention. “But I have a question for you – how did you find me? I haven’t been to singing gigs in a very long while.”

“We have scouts all over the place, and one of our employees has a son who goes to the same school as you. His son is actually one of the boys who does the recording for your school’s videos, and he showed it to his father, whom showed it to me. I believe it was during the annual school festival last year?” Jung Songhyun waves his hand around slightly, lies through his teeth without a single detectable change in his expression. Baekhyun is impressed in spite of himself.

“Then what would you do if I refuse to join the company?” The Guardian of Light continues to bait the man, silently challenging him to make a move. He can see the flicker of something dark, angry at the back of the man’s eyes, but it’s gone when he blinks again.

“If that was truly the case, then we would still respect your decision, but would have to inform you that in the event that you wished to join SME in any of the fields in the future – be it in terms of choreography, composing, singing, modelling or acting, then we would have to decline your application straightaway.” His smile is just slightly strained. Baekhyun is a bit surprised at how easy it seems for him to be able to read Jung Songhyun’s expressions and he wonders if it’s just him.

Baekhyun pretends to give his decision more thought, before he smiles and extends his hand for Jung Songhyun to shake. “I’m sold. When should I go for the auditions?”

The man shakes his hand firmly, a pleased smile on his face. “It just so happens that I came by to tell you that there is a batch of auditions tomorrow at 9.30am at the headquarters and I’ll be glad to see you there tomorrow. I do believe you won’t regret this decision, Baekhyun-ssi. Just buzz the intercom at the main entrance when you get there, and tell them that I personally recommended you. You’ll be able to get in if you show the receptionist my name card.”

“Alright, I’ll bear that in mind. Thank you, Mr. Jung.” Baekhyun’s smile doesn’t falter as he moves to close the door in a deliberately slow manner, watching, waiting for Jung Songhyun’s next course of action. He seemed to have something else in mind; something which he was still debating with himself to ask Baekhyun. Baekhyun still wonders how he is able to guess Songhyun’s inner feelings so accurately when the man stops the door from snapping shut barely seconds later.

“Oh, there’s something I actually want to ask you, Baekhyun-ssi,” Jung Songhyun stops the closing door with a hand. Baekhyun cocks his head to the side with eyes widened in question, pretending he’s surprised.

“What is it, Mr. Jung?”

“I’ll get straight to the point.” Songhyun replies. “Assuming you pass the audition – which I am almost a hundred percent sure you _will_ – I’ll be arranging you to live with a group of senior trainees. A group of problematic ones, if you may.” The man continues, and at the same time, Baekhyun feels something stirring in his mind, as if trying to invade his consciousness. Luhan gives a silent order for Baekhyun to remain calm, assuring the younger boy that he’s doing everything he can to prevent the intrusion from causing any unduly harm to Baekhyun.

Baekhyun nods slowly in reply, as if he’s thinking it over. “You mean I have to move into the dorms immediately after that? Is there a particular reason for it?” The stirring in his mind continues, but he acts as if he doesn’t notice it. Songhyun is staring directly at him with piercing eyes; Baekhyun looks back at him blankly.

“Truth be told, we are planning to launch a group with twelve members. Eleven of them have already been handpicked, and you, Byun Baekhyun-ssi, are supposed to be the twelfth.” Songhyun concludes seriously. “We need your vocal capabilities to balance out the group, which is why you’ll be grouped with them _if_ you successfully pass your auditions.”

“Um.” Baekhyun blinks. “Alright, I guess?” The probing feeling has receded and Baekhyun can feel Luhan’s mental nod in his mind, telling him that Songhyun is no longer poking around his mind.

The man smiles at him and tips his hat slightly at Baekhyun. “Glad to have your understanding. I’ll inform you about the details once you’re an official trainee under SM. Good day.” Baekhyun watches as he walks down the few stairs from their porch, then enters the black sedan that he’d seen last time. He only breathes in relief once the car is far out of sight and he closes his front door, making his way to the living room.

_What was he trying to do in my mind earlier?_ Baekhyun asks as he falls onto the sofa, suddenly feeling extremely exhausted from the brief encounter with Jung Songhyun. He doesn’t realise that his muscles were all tensed up until now.

_He was probably trying to ascertain if you’d met up with us, and also if you remembered anything at all about EXO Planet. I managed to block him off, though, and created a ‘locked in’ version of your past memories just in case he decided to dig further. Don’t worry about the technicalities, though. He didn’t manage to find anything, so we’re in the clear, for now at least._ Luhan himself sounded incredibly relieved.

_What about his request? Do I just play along?_ Baekhyun wonders.

_Act as if you don’t know us when you get here; there would be no reason for you to have even met us. I’ll create some memories based on whatever interactions we have in case he ends up prying your mind now and then._ Luhan says again.

_I guess I’ll officially ‘meet’ you guys tomorrow, then. I doubt that Jung Songhyun is going to fail me in the auditions, since he already knows that I used to be a guardian in the past. He seems adamant that I join the company._ The younger muses.

_He would be._ Luhan sighs. _I’m sure they have a vested interest in the Tree of Life after all. I don’t think we need to worry about_ not _seeing you tomorrow_. He laughs wryly. _See you tomorrow. Chanyeol’s overjoyed by the way,_ the older boy adds gleefully.

Baekhyun finds himself laughing when Chanyeol makes an indignant noise at the back of his mind, stretching a little before he headed upstairs to practice for his audition tomorrow. He didn’t want to make a complete embarrassment out of himself after all, even if his trainee position is as good as secured.

 

**

 

As expected, Baekhyun passes the audition with flying colours, and he soon finds himself in front of the large house that he had visited last time. He hops out of the van and trails his luggage up the pathway, grins when he sees Kyungsoo’s head pop out of the main door, followed by a jaunty wave. They went on the whole camaraderie of getting to know each other on the porch, putting on a perfect show for their dorm manager and the company’s driver, before disappearing into the house with a sense of renewed urgency. Luhan had requested for a meeting with everyone when Baekhyun arrived at the house earlier. It’s a good thing their dorm manager more or less trusted them since he tends to leave them alone in the house, and the boys had more privacy so they could hold their meetings in the living room without have to worry about being overheard.

(Jongdae is particularly overjoyed because it means he doesn’t have to hide his public displays of affection for Junmyeon. The older Guardian is always faintly amused at his antics.)

“The audition was more difficult than I thought.” Baekhyun huffs as he takes up the empty spot right next to Chanyeol, abandoning his luggage next to the dining table. “Dancing is seriously not my thing.”

The taller boy grins, nodding across the table at Jongin, Luhan, Sehun, and Yixing. “Well, you’ve got some of the finest dancers right here in front of you so I’m sure they’ll be happy to tutor you and you’ll get up to speed soon enough. Your training is probably going to be a lot more accelerated than ours was, though.”

Baekhyun lets out an audible groan at that. “You mean I still have to go through all that torture, probably tenfold from what you’re receiving now?”

“Well, you did join us late after all,” Minseok points out. “And you’re most probably going to receive your dance training from Kwangyeol-sonsaengnim, which is bad news for you, too.”

“Not to mention that we think he’s also part of the group that Jung Songhyun is in.” Yixing gestures with his chopsticks.

“And you guys are telling me this only now, why?” Baekhyun asks, expressions withered as he slumps into Chanyeol’s side. “Are you sure I’m going to get out of this _alive_?”

“Hey, if I’m still here, I’m sure you’ll survive.” Jongdae nods his head at Baekhyun. “I only joined a couple of months back too, you know.” He tilts his head slightly, thinking. “What did Jung Songhyun tell you about anyway? Are you going to even us out vocal-wise or dance-wise?”

“Vocal-wise.” Baekhyun answers without missing a beat. “He... well, he said that you guys are a problematic bunch. I was tasked to monitor you guys and I’m expected to report back to him frequently.”

Jongin and Sehun grin, and Kris slaps a palm to his head at their expressions. “Oh yeah, we’re _real_ problematic, so you’d better keep an eye on us _really closely_.” Both of them snicker, and Luhan gives them a wry look, but Baekhyun can see the mischievousness also reflected in his eyes.

“What exactly _are_ you going to report to him, then? You’re going to be embroiled in our mischievous pranks anyway.” Yixing comments thoughtfully, sending an amused look in Baekhyun’s direction.

“ _Please_.” Minseok rolls his eyes. “He’s going to be the one _instigating_ them after a while.”

“We can be the _beef_ twins. Steak unite!” Zitao adds, eyes crinkling while he grins, their running joke surfacing because of their Zodiac signs, causing the other boys to groan at the bad pun.

Kyungsoo’s eyes dart between Baekhyun and Jongdae. “That’ll probably mean that you’ll be placed in the same vocal classes as Jongdae hyung then, Baekhyun hyung. We’ll be seeing a lot of you regardless.”

“And I’ll have to be the great pretender during these classes.” Baekhyun sighs slightly at the notion, propping his chin up with his knuckle. “Why did I even agree to Jung Songhyun’s request anyway?”

“It isn’t as if you would have been able to say no to him anyway, considering you’re not even supposed to know us.” Junmyeon points out idly, shrugging a shoulder to get Jongdae’s head off it. The younger boy growls in protest.

“True.” Baekhyun concurs. “But I’ll have you guys help me out in making up stories to report to him. I have never been good in story-writing.”

“Don’t you worry, we’ll have plenty of stories. I love writing stories!” The gleam in Luhan’s eyes is downright unholy and the wide grin makes Baekhyun eye him warily while Chanyeol laughs.

Just like old times.

 

**

 

“Are you sure it’s fine to not tamper with their minds, Songhyun?” Kwangyeol prods at the pile of papers on the other man’s desk gingerly, as if one poke would send them flying off the table.

Songhyun looks up from the stack of papers that he was going through. “Since when did you get interested in tampering with their minds? You were always more content on torturing them with your crazy dance routines. What brought this about?”

Kwangyeol shrugs at the question. “You don’t usually do things like this. I just found it weird is all. I heard you asked that Baekhyun kid to monitor the rest of the trainees, though. How reliable do you think he’ll be?”

The shorter man drums his fingers against the stack of papers, head rested in his chin. “I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.”

“Shouldn’t you factor in the possibility of him regaining his memories about their past? The other guardians recovered theirs quite fast, mind you.” Kwangyeol reminds him.

Songhyun looks at him seriously. “At this point in time, if the rest of them have regained their memories already, then it’s just a matter of time anyway. It isn’t as if any of the rest of our plans will change because of that. I’m just putting up some form of distraction for those kids; I know Baekhyun wouldn’t defect from them.”

“Ah,” Kwangyeol’s eyes brightens in amusement. “I thought you’d lost it when you actually wanted that Baekhyun kid to report back to you. Glad to know your sanity is still intact, then.”

Songhyun snorts. “Questioning my sanity? That’s it, you’re relegated to sleeping in the bathroom for the next week.”

“You wouldn’t do that.” Kwangyeol gasps in mock horror.

The lazy smile that crosses his face isn’t very comforting to Kwangyeol. “You just wait. I’ll just shift you into the bathtub while you’re sleeping.”

“I’ll just bunk over in Woojung’s room then, if that’s what you want. Two can play that game, Songhyun.”

“You do that. I’ll just watch Jisuk kick you right back out.” The older man smiles at him, all teeth.

“Did someone mention my name?” A new voice joins them in the room, causing both Songhyun and Kwangyeol to jump in surprise. They turn to see Jisuk poking his head in through the open door to Songhyun’s office. He doesn’t wait for a reply to his initial question, because both their expressions tells him enough, and he waves a hand at them. “Youngmin’s calling a meeting. Let’s go.”

 

**

 

“Can you feel it?” Jongin’s voice cuts through Luhan’s concentration, earning a scowl from the older boy.

“ _Shhh!_ ” The other guardian says, flapping a hand at him as if it would make Jongin quiet down faster. “We’re not supposed to let anyone find out that we’re looking for... _you know_... until we’re actually sure!”

Jongin decidedly ignores Luhan’s words as he continues with his rambling. “It still feels a little shaky on my side; the presence fluctuates so much that I can’t even be sure. Is it any better with you?”

His concentration completely shot, Luhan turns to the younger guardian exasperatedly. “Kim Jongin! I swear if you don’t shut up, you’re going to regret it!”

“Why? Is the Tree a taboo word now?” Jongin blurts out in a confused manner, only to yelp in pain when Luhan cuffs him at the back of his head. “Hey! What was that for?!”

_Which part of ‘shut up’ can’t you comprehend?!_ The older boy switches to using their mind channels and is close to wringing his neck.

_You could’ve made it a little more obvious that you don’t want to talk about it, you know._ Jongin frowns at Luhan. _Besides, why can’t we let the other guys know? They’re in this together, aren’t they?_

_Really, Jongin, I think ‘shut up’ is quite self-explanatory._ Luhan sighs, his lips pursed wryly. _They are, but I don’t want them to know about this yet. In fact, I’d rather keep this to just the both of us, to be on the safe side of things._

This causes Jongin to raise an eyebrow at the older boy. _What, are you saying that they can’t be trusted now?_ Luhan gives him a rather rough shove at the question, toppling Jongin over from the force. The younger boy lets out a disgruntled noise and glares at Luhan but doesn’t retaliate, silently urging him to clarify his thoughts.

_It’s not that I don’t trust them, Jongin. I just... I don’t trust_ myself _and my attempts to mask our mind channels from Jung Songhyun and the lot._

_But you’re trusting_ me _to be able to hold them off by myself?_ The shadow guardian is a tad confused. _How do you even know I’ll be able to do that?_

_I don’t, but at least most of your time is spent being around me. If anything happens to you, I’ll be there too._ Luhan smiles at him, patting Jongin on the head. _I have your wavelength memorised; I know precisely if and when your mind gets infiltrated._

_Well..._ Jongin has his face scrunched up, as if he wants to say something else, but then sighs. _If you think that it’s for the best, then let’s just do that for now._

_Glad to have you see things my way_ , Luhan beams, eyes forming crescents. _Now let’s continue tracing the Tree’s presence. There isn’t much time to waste._

 

**

 

Youngmin leans into his seat as he sweeps his eyes over the faces in the room; people who have been with him ever since he could remember. “So gentlemen,” he begins with a smirk, “I trust you already know that all twelve of our precious little guardians have assembled at long last?”

“Of course.” Jongmin is practically bouncing with unsuppressed energy in his seat, eyes shiny in anticipation. “I’ve been waiting for this moment since _forever_.”

“Are we going to do anything about them _now_ , though?” Songhyun asks exasperatedly. “Please tell me we are, because I’ve been holding back way too much and I’m getting seriously bored.”

The smile that Youngmin has on his face is sharp, almost chilling, making the other men in the room shudder inwardly. Woojung and Sooman have seen it many times in particular, especially when he’s making cutthroat deals, but this could possibly be the first time Youngmin is actually wearing such an expression in their presence. “There’s a reason why I called for this meeting.” He beckons them closer with a crook of his fingers, and all of them lean in from their seats closer towards him. “I say we make things a living hell for them. Tenfold of what we have been through. _This_ is what I propose. Listen closely now. Don’t miss even a _single_ detail.”

Sooman’s eyes get progressively wider while Jongmin and Songhyun can barely contain themselves regarding the devious plans that Youngmin has in mind. Woojung and Jisuk have their eyebrows raised way high, while Kwangyeol nods, looking the calmest out of them all. When Youngmin is done talking, he sits back in his reclining chair, fingers steepled with that same chilling smile on his face.

There is a certain hush that fills the room before Sooman breaks it.

“I like your plans, but won’t we push them to their deaths before they make their debut?” He comments, all while holding down Youngmin’s intense gaze calmly. No one has ever talked about it, but Sooman is sure that everyone shares his sentiments: the Youngmin now has turned into a completely different person ever since they had set foot here.

He is practically another person, a complete stranger, eyes expressionless, and Sooman remembers how unfeeling he seemed even with _that person’s_ body in his arms. He vaguely knew that they had carried on a relationship, but they had called it quits before their journey had even started, but to see not even a speck of feeling in his eyes... it was one of the turning points for them. With Jongmin, it was easier to understand the _why_ of it because it had taken a much, much longer time to see that gradual desperation etch into him, but Youngmin… Youngmin scared him sometimes.

(It was one of the reasons why Sooman had taken over as the face of the company before only recently yielding it over to Youngmin. The _ruthlessness_ of most of Youngmin’s decisions was quite frankly, terrifying.)

“Going all out just to hold back at the very end, just enough to preserve their lives and perhaps a little of their sanity – isn’t that where all the fun lies?” Youngmin smiles at him, sending another shiver down Sooman’s spine.

“Don’t forget that they’re also going to be one of our bands, and if they fall right after debut, there goes our credibility.” Sooman retorts firmly, trying to minimise the damage that would be done.

“I’m hungry for revenge, Sooman, but I’m not insane.” Youngmin says flatly, frowning at the older man. “Of course we’re going to promote them heavily, but that doesn’t mean we can’t torture them in silence. No one will know if we cover things up adequately. Think about it: those brats can’t make a false move either, or it would signify the end of their career.”

Sooman stares at him for a while. “You really have absolutely no sympathy at all, do you.”

Youngmin rolls his eyes at him. “Is there a reason why I should? Are you in this or not?”

“As if you had to ask. _Of course_ I’m in. I would just rather you not be so harsh on them.” So many years had changed all of them, and for Sooman, seeing, watching all the trainees grow up and transform into artistes like DBSK, Super Junior, SNSD, SHINee, f(x), he truly did treasure all of his artistes, as much as he could. He had been less affected than the rest of them, probably because he had half expected it when they arrived; maybe this had also kept him as open as he was to the changes that slowly took place around him, watching all these young boys and girls grow up into superstars.

“Leniency and soft-heartedness are fatal weaknesses, Sooman. I thought you should know better by now.” Woojung intercepts the conversation.

Jisuk grimly nods in agreement next to the man. “If you continue pampering the artistes in such a manner, I can place a safe bet that you’ll be the first out of the rest of us to get yourself killed when we finally go against the guardians.”

“The battlegrounds are different, and you know it. Sometimes you can’t just depend on just violence to get what you want.” Sooman argues, already knowing it’s a lost cause but trying anyway.

“In any case,” Youngmin cuts in impatiently, no longer interested in playing along with Sooman’s attempts in persuasion, “I do hope you’ll stay alert at all times. Failure is not an option.” Just like that, the subject is closed, and Sooman can no longer continue his case.

Youngmin turns to his colleague next. “Kwangyeol, this is what I want you to do.”

Sooman feels the growing pit of despair inside him deepen as Youngmin divulges his plans.


	25. {24} we might fall

Yixing glances around the waiting area of the office, taking in the random trinkets and multiple awards that line the wall on one side. It’s the first time he’s been summoned to the administrative area of the top-ranked officials of SM Entertainment, and he cannot help but feel a little uneasy and stiff, wondering why he was asked to meet a certain Jung Songhyun at his office.

It doesn’t help that the group of guardians of EXO Planet _knows_ Jung Songhyun has something up his sleeve. Kris had insisted that he should keep Yixing company for his meeting, but Yixing, as well as Luhan and Jongin, had rejected the proposition from the long-legged boy, saying that they couldn’t risk letting Songhyun’s side find out that they were suspecting something.

“Ah, Zhang Yixing! Please, have a seat.” The sudden sound of a male voice behind him makes him jolt slightly, and he turns to see Songhyun himself walking into the office. Yixing bows to him and waits before Songhyun is seated, before pulling out the chair and sitting in it instead. He tries not to let on that he’s nervous about being in the presence of the Head of the Trainee Department, but Yixing can’t help but sit ramrod straight there.

“Good afternoon, sir. Is there something you need me for today?” Yixing asks good-naturedly when Luhan nudges at the back of his mind for him to proceed, trying to let his usual calmness take control of his senses.

The way Songhyun smiles genially at him has the hairs on the back of his neck standing up on their ends, but Yixing’s pleasant expression doesn’t falter. Knowing what he knows now, there’s no mistaking the glint in the man’s eyes for anything else but the slightest smidgen of cruelty.

“I’m sure you’ve heard about the news of SHINee’s Jonghyun getting himself injured during practice?” Songhyun offers, and Yixing finds himself nodding along with his brows slightly furrowed. Everyone knew how Jonghyun could not perform the dance steps for their album promotions on music shows, and had to be confined to a chair by the side of the stage for him to belt out his lines. Yixing himself had heard the grouses coming from Jonghyun himself about his own inability to dance alongside his band mates.

“This is still considered top-secret information,” Songhyun continues amiably, interrupting Yixing’s train of thoughts, “but SHINee will be going on their first concert tour soon, and we certainly can’t have his place in the dance choreography empty through it all. So the company has decided to reward your dedication in your training classes with a ticket to join SHINee on their concert tour as Jonghyun’s dance replacement.”

If Yixing had only himself to worry about, he would have said ‘yes’ right away, no questions asked, but he can’t help but wonder if it’s a ploy to separate the guardians from each other, thrilled as he might be at the thought of standing on stage in front of thousands of people while the music led him onwards. The sequence of events seemed like too much of a coincidence to be true.

“I’m humbled that the company thinks highly of me to give me this opportunity. But before I say yes, I’d like to ask a few questions,” Yixing says, and Songhyun nods his head in acquiescence, giving permission for Yixing to continue on with his queries.

“How long would the tour last?” Yixing licks his lips in thought.

“The dates span over a year, but you won’t be on tour with them for the whole period, and the concerts do not happen consecutively. In between, you will still be expected to keep up with your training, and any other projects the management may decide for you. For now, though, we expect that it will take around two to three months for Jonghyun’s injury to heal up properly and we shall see how it goes from there.” Songhyun elaborates as he drums his fingers upon his desk lightly as he regards Yixing.

“What other questions do you have? I’d be glad to answer them to the best of my capability.”

Yixing worries on his lower lip and transmits the information to Luhan as he cooks up another question to buy him some time. “What are SHINee’s training schedules for the concert like?” He hears the discussion going on at the back of his mind and tries to tune them out; he can’t afford to get distracted right now, even if he may space out frequently.

“They don’t _have_ a schedule, Yixing my boy. You would have to respond to their calls whenever they have the slightest bit of time to spare for concert rehearsals, and that includes late night visits to the training rooms, and even taking time out of your normal class schedules to conform to their timing. I’ll let your trainers know, but depending on what they are currently working on in class, you may be expected to fill in the hours that you have missed as well.” He meets Yixing’s eyes and there is a shrewd light in there this time.

“This will be more difficult than any schedules that you have as a trainee now, but it will also give you a good insight as to how busy you would be when you debut – be it as a solo artist or with a group, so I would strongly recommend you to take the opportunity to tour with SHINee. But of course, the decision is all yours.”

“Can I have some time to think about it?” Yixing queries, but Songhyun is already shaking his head firmly.

“I need you to make a decision now, because if you decline the offer of joining SHINee on their tour, I need to look for another replacement.” The man is all smiles. “Of course, this might also mean that you might lose out on a chance to stand in the limelight, and who knows when you might get the opportunity to do that again?” He leans back in his chair and studies his nails, eyes slanting towards Yixing.

“After all, who knows when you will debut, yes?” His smile is sharp and curves well on his lips, but Yixing knows better.

Yixing squeezes his eyes shut and agrees to the proposition in a heartbeat, even if his fellow guardians have not come up with a common consensus whether or not Yixing should join SHINee on their tour. The inherent fear of being unable to stand under the incandescent stage lights again has unfortunately been ingrained in Yixing ever since he had joined the company several years ago, and although he thinks Songhyun is dealing a low blow by aiming at his weakness, his insecurities at being unable to debut, Yixing has no choice but to give in to his inner desires.

Now he has to find a way to stop the guilt from gnawing at his heart, and to ignore the awareness of a fuming Yifan at the back of his mind.

 

***

 

“Smart move you made right there in Jung Songhyun’s office, Zhang Yixing.”

Yixing grimaces at the first sentence (and the mention of his full name) which greets him the moment he steps into the house; the sarcasm is barely concealed in Yifan’s voice. Yixing raises his head slightly to find the Guardian of Flight leaning against the wall at the foot of the stairs and sending a displeased glare at him, effectively blocking off Yixing’s only route to their room. At times like these, he wishes he has Jongin’s abilities to phase out of view. He really can’t bring himself to face the other Guardians, let alone Yifan who means a lot more to Yixing than he lets on.

“Yifan, I-” He begins, but the other boy cuts him off mid-sentence.

“Save it. I don’t want to hear it right now. Just. Not right now.” Yifan’s voice is even and measured, but Yixing has known him long enough to know that the calmer the younger boy sounds, the greater the underlying anger will be.

“Kris, this isn’t the time to be patronising Yixing.” Luhan’s disapproving voice trails from the top of the stairs, and Yixing finds the older boy seated at the highest step, watching them with intense eyes. It’s one of those rare times that Luhan actually seems his age.

A low snarl erupts from Yifan. “He needs to know how important he is to m- to us! It’s ridiculous for him to be separated from the group for such a long period of time, especially when Songhyun and whoever else is working with him is trying to kill us off without the slightest warning!”

“Isn’t that even more of a reason why we _shouldn’t_ be turning against each other right now?” Jongin joins in the conversation, phasing into sight next to Luhan. His skin is glistening with sweat, evidence that he had just returned from his dance practice at the company. “If this is indeed a plot devised by Songhyun to drive us apart, we would be helping his cause.”

“It’s probably a good thing that Yixing agreed in any case, because there is less suspicion on us that we know exactly what they’re up to.” Junmyeon joins Luhan on the staircase as Jongdae trails along behind him. “It wouldn’t look natural if he flat out said no, because who wouldn’t jump at the chance of being able to perform on stage?” He points out calmly.

Yixing shoots a grateful glance to Junmyeon. Out of all of them, Junmyeon is the one who probably understands how Yixing feels the most when it comes to performing on stage; he _would_ know, considering how Junmyeon has watched trainee after trainee debut before him and the Water Guardian has been in the company the longest out of all of them. He wants to believe that Yifan has that desire in him too, but at the moment, he sees none of it. Maybe the responsibility of being a Guardian outweighed everything else for Yifan now; Yixing wishes he could read his mind.

“Yeah, and if we get attacked and wounded, we would be left without a healer.” Yifan reminds them impatiently, unhappy at being ganged up against in such a manner. “We’re sitting ducks.”

“Can you have more faith in your own abilities, Fan?” Yixing speaks up in a quiet voice when no one seems to be able to retort to Yifan’s words. He doesn’t even flinch when Yifan’s sharp glare turns upon him again. Instead, he meets Yifan’s gaze squarely. “Not only yours, but everyone else’s.”

“Part of the reason why I agreed to join SHINee on their tour is because I trust that you guys won’t get hurt, at least not seriously, if by any chance you would get involved in a confrontation with them.”

Yifan seems to want to retort to that, but he gives it some thought and then swallows his words. Instead, he settles for a dismayed sigh. “You need to be careful too, Xing. You don’t have the ability to go on the offence with your powers. No one’s going to be around to protect you.” His voice is quiet as he watches Yixing with deep concern, betraying his usually calm and occasionally indifferent demeanour.

“I doubt that they’d really do anything to me while the tour is on. There’d be no one left to take over if I go down anyway.” Yixing tries to reassure him. Yifan frowns a little at him.

“You can never be sure what they have up their sleeves, Xing.” Almost as if the others can sense how private the conversation is becoming, they peel off in pairs and trios, disappearing to where they came from and leaving the two Chinese boys in the hallway. Yixing walks towards the older Guardian, and pulls him to sit on the bottom step with him, their sides pressing into each other from the lack of space.

“Yifan, I know you’re concerned about me-”

“Understatement.” Yifan huffs and rolls his eyes in sarcasm. Yixing duly ignores him.

“-but please, of all people, _I_ _need you_ to trust in me.” Yifan can’t look away from the pleading expression in Yixing’s eyes that’s almost got him undone and it’s the look that he can’t say no to, even worse than when Zitao does _aegyo_ at him. Feeling his heart melt away, Yifan gives in and wraps his arm around Yixing’s shoulder, drawing the younger boy closer to him. Hearing Yixing’s rhythmic intakes of breath has a calming effect on Yifan, and he presses their heads together.

“I believe in your decisions, Yixing, just like how you’ve always believed that Chanyeol and I should be taken along on the migration to Earth, even if we nearly killed you on EXO Planet back then.” His fingers brush through Yixing’s hair slowly.

“But that doesn’t mean that I’d stop worrying about you anyway. _I can’t._ ” There is an earnest honesty in Yifan’s words, and it warms Yixing’s heart.

Yixing laughs a little at that. “I know. I’ve always known, even if you’ve never told me outright, Fan. I’ll come back in one piece, I promise.” He leans up and presses a peck on Yifan’s cheek, catching the older guardian by surprise. “You’ll be around when I return from the tour, won’t you?”

“Of course I will.” Yifan’s cheeks are a bit pink, Yixing thinks and it’s quite endearing to see the taller boy like this when he looks as though he has a permanent scowl tattooed across his face eighty percent of the time. But Yixing knows him better and he hasn’t just been Yifan’s best friend-turned-something-more in this lifetime. “Don’t forget to call back every now and then okay?”

Yixing is amused and smiles at him, “You can hear me in your head all the time if you want to, you know.”

Yifan splutters, caught out because _why hadn’t he thought of that again?_

“That’s different! I need to hear your voice in my ear.” And then he buries his face in his palms because _what the hell is this cheese_. It only invites more laughter from Yixing, and Yifan struggles to make him stop, to no avail. And so he shuts Yixing up with the only way he knows would be a hundred-percent effective – by pressing a kiss to Yixing’s lips.

 

***

 

“Hey, how are you holding up?” Baekhyun glances up tiredly to the side to see Chanyeol’s long legs before the other boy squats down to look at him, eyes worried. “Is training being too gruelling?”

The older vocalist had just been put through a long series of choreography after his vocal training session earlier with Jongdae and Luhan and the others were right; Kwangyeol-sonsaengnim had been downright _evil_ to him. “I think Kwangyeol-sonsaengnim is trying to kill me before I debut.” He sighs, leaning back against the mirror and squeezes his eyes shut. He grumbles a bit when Chanyeol ruffles his hair affectionately, but he happily leans into the taller boy’s touch when Chanyeol sits down next to him moments later.

The fire guardian’s chuckle transfers over to Baekhyun’s body as he laughs and hands the shorter boy an energy drink, which he gulps down thirstily. “Yeah, he’s probably a sadist, but you’ve got to admit that he’s one of the best.”

Baekhyun lets his feet rest over Chanyeol’s shins instead as he gives the taller boy a dirty look. “That doesn’t mean that I can’t hate his guts, though.”

“I guess we all feel the same about him.” Chanyeol says wryly. “I would probably like him better if he wasn’t part of the group who is out to destroy us.”

“What do you reckon they’re up to? Apart from the times they tried to run Minseok hyung and Jongin over, and the times where they tried to infiltrate our minds, they haven’t done anything else that warrants us to worry about them excessively.”

Chanyeol shakes his head in response, his lips pursed in thought. “Frankly, I have no idea either. But if Luhan hyung and Jongin thinks we should be careful of them, then we should pay heed to their warnings. Their intuitions are rarely ever wrong.”

Baekhyun sighs in resignation. “I guess you’re right. But how on earth have you guys been dealing with this uncertainty that just looms over our heads? I mean, you and Junmyeon hyung and Luhan hyung and Jongin must have been the first ones to know and it’s been _years_ already, hasn’t it? How did you even cope with that?”

“We kept our minds off it by immersing ourselves in practice schedules and classes. It wasn’t easy, I can tell you that much.” Chanyeol admits with a wry smile, and reaches over to hold Baekhyun’s hand in his. “But now that you’re here, at least I have one thing less to worry about.”

Baekhyun makes a face at the cheesiness of Chanyeol’s statement, although his heart is warmed by it. “That is so incredibly cheesy, I swear. But well, brownie points for it being sweet.”

“Well I’m sorry for covering you in cheese after being separated for such a long while,” Chanyeol rolls his eyes jokingly, then his expressions takes a serious turn. “Seriously, though. I was worried that you’d get controlled by Jung Songhyun like I did back on EXO Planet. It’s not a pleasant experience when you _know_ for a fact that you betrayed your friends in the past.” There is a sort of bitterness in Chanyeol’s tone and Baekhyun squeezes his hand comfortingly to dispel it.

“Hey, we couldn’t control what happened back then okay? But at least we’ve got it figured out _now_ , so that we’re actually able to take measures to prevent it from happening again.”

Baekhyun snuggles into Chanyeol’s hold when the taller boy wraps an arm around his shoulder and pulls him close, neither of them minding the sweaty conditions they’re in. The proximity exerts a calming effect on them, and it allows them to forget about their troubles and their concerns, if only for a little while.

 

***

 

Zitao jumps from his position on the sofa when someone presses something cold against the side of his face, jolting him out of his deep thoughts. He looks up to find the grinning face of none other than Sehun, with two cans of cold drinks in his hands.

“A Chilsung cider for your thoughts, hyung?” The youngest grins toothily as he moves the can in front of Zitao’s face teasingly.

“Since when did you start calling me hyung?” Zitao raises an eyebrow at Sehun, but accepts the canned drink from him with a grateful smile and scoots over to make some space for Sehun regardless. The paler boy mock-scowls, and it deepens when Zitao laughs at his expression instead.

“I can _uncall_ you that.” Sehun sniffs, “And then I’ll just call you panda hyung instead.”

Zitao raps Sehun’s head with his knuckles. “Don’t start being disrespectful now, Oh Sehun.”

“ _Fine_.” The younger guardian childishly sticks out his tongue at Zitao, then sinks into the sofa next to Zitao. “You seemed to be in deep thoughts, though. What’s on your mind?”

“I’m sure you felt the shift in bonds between two guardians earlier.” The Time Guardian sighs, pressing his own drink against his temple to lessen the headache.

Sehun makes a face as he opens his own can. “At least they blocked themselves out after that.” He shudders empathetically. “I’d much rather _not_ have a repeat of Junmyeon and Jongdae hyung’s emotions, thank you very much. Once is more than enough.”  


Zitao pales a little at the mention of it, and they both erupt in amused laughter. “Don’t even remind me about that, Sehun.” He growls playfully, but his light mood dissolves away just as quickly when his thoughts shifts back towards Yifan and Yixing. Another sigh escapes Zitao’s lips at that.

The younger guardian seems to have picked up on the hidden meaning behind Zitao’s words then, and he pulls Zitao into a hug. “I’m sorry you had to go through that experience, hyung.” He mutters. “It’s never easy to watch the person you like end up with someone else.”

Zitao sighs, smiles sadly and lets himself lean into Sehun’s skinny shoulders. “Well, at least it’s Yixing. I might hate to admit it but they’re practically perfect for each other.”

“They’ve been living in the same village on EXO Planet since birth, so Yixing hyung might’ve had some advantage in that sense. Do you think anything would’ve changed if Yifan hyung met you first?” Sehun pitches in with a small smile.

“Maybe,” Zitao mumbles, teeth biting on the metal of the can lightly. “Maybe not.”

The younger guardian hums in deep thought. “You don’t seem to be all that upset to find out, though. Why is that?”

Zitao takes a swig from his canned drink, lets the bubbles fill his mouth before swallowing it down. “I guess... in a way you could say that I always saw it coming? There’s a softness that shows around Yifan hyung’s eyes whenever Yixing hyung is around, and it was pretty evident even back then.”

“I still remember how you used to send Yixing hyung your death glare whenever he comes close to Yifan hyung, and how you played tricks on him when he’s supposed to practice martial arts with you.” Sehun laughs, his eyes turning into attractive crescents at the memories. Those were the good times.

“Yeah, that didn’t serve to deter Yixing hyung, though.” Zitao mock-scowls. On the flip side though, Zitao thinks it was probably a lot easier for him to let Yifan go because it was such a one-sided thing on his part, and seeing the guardian of flight light up whenever Yixing was around was practically blinding.

And so Zitao let go and watched as the relationship between Yixing and Yifan bloomed.

“I think I can empathise with you,” Sehun admits, casting a look in the direction of the stairs when he hears Luhan’s and Jongin’s laughter coming from upstairs. He doesn’t notice Zitao observing him until the older boy clears his throat.

“You like Luhan hyung, don’t you?”

Sehun flashes a tight-lipped smile at Zitao. “I _liked_ Luhan hyung; there’s a difference in that. It’s been a long while since I’ve learned to let go, though.”

“Because of Jongin?” Zitao questions, even if the answer is already obvious.

“Because of Jongin.” Sehun confirms. “They might not admit to their relationship, but they’re much closer than they let on.”

Zitao laughs then, “I guess not everyone can be like Junmyeon and Jongdae hyung.”

“Ugh.” Sehun makes a face. “They seriously need to tone things down a little.”

“Why did you let Luhan hyung go so willingly?” Zitao asks, his mood mellowing down a little.

“There was something that Luhan hyung said once back on EXO Planet, and it’s one of the things that I remember the clearest.” Sehun plays with the edge of his canned drink as he speaks, half lost in thought. “He probably didn’t know what he was saying but or maybe he did, but he was looking at Jongin and there was just... this _look_ in his eyes when he said it.”

“What was it that he said that left such an impact on you?” Zitao prods gently, curious.

“He said...that for everything he Sees, there are some things that will come true, and then there are some things that are already set in stone.” Sehun swallows because it still aches, a little, when he thinks about it. “Luhan hyung was looking at Jongin when he talked about things that were set in stone.”

Zitao pulls Sehun into a hug when the first tear escapes the corner of the younger boy’s eyes, suddenly feeling sorry for reopening the wounds the boy had been trying to heal all this while. While he knew Sehun had been in love with Luhan for a while, he never found out about the reasons why the younger boy distanced himself from Luhan whenever Jongin was near. Now he understands, and he wants nothing but to comfort Sehun, to take up the role that has been unknowingly left empty all these years. Sehun melts into the embrace, his arms coming around Zitao’s middle as he clings tightly to Zitao.

It works out strangely, maybe, that most of them have paired off amongst themselves – Junmyeon and Jongdae, Luhan and Jongin, Yifan and Yixing, Baekhyun and Chanyeol, while Kyungsoo and Minseok are more worried about their members than any relationships and then, there’s Sehun and Zitao, hearts sore and aching because the ones they long for are already taken. Maybe this is how things are supposed to work out, after all.

Maybe this is for the best.

 


	26. {25} tristitia

For several days after Yixing’s departure from the dorms for SHINee’s World Tour, no one even dares to get too close to Yifan. His bitchface is a hundred times worse than usual. Any and all questions are met with an answer in the form of a grunt or grumpy eyes, and he doesn’t look as though he’s been sleeping well at all, if the circles under his eyes are anything to go by. The other boys understands what he’s going through, though; anyone would be worried if their loved one was sent to an overseas location, with limited communication and contact between them.

Yifan had gotten a few messages from Yixing since then – _I’ve arrived! Make sure to eat and sleep well ^^_ – and then – _it’s...amazing here. I wish you were here_ – and then Yixing seems to have disappeared from the face of the earth. No messages, no calls, and attempts to contact Yixing through their mind channels comes up fruitless. No one had the courage to ring their seniors up either, for fear they would alarm Songhyun and his company. Yifan literally turned frantic, getting increasingly agitated by the day.

“It’ll be alright,” Junmyeon tells him softly one evening, under the request of everyone else. “Do you want me to try to call Jonghyun hyung at least and ask him how he’s doing?”

Yifan shakes his head. “If Yixing wants me to know he’s safe, he’ll contact me on his own accord. We can’t risk anything right now.”

“But-” Junmyeon starts, but Yifan cuts him off firmly.

“It’s fine, Junmyeon. But thank you for offering.” His smile is more of a grimace, Yifan can tell already as the water guardian pats him on the back before going back into the living room and Yifan is left staring into the night, sitting on the balcony alone, thinking about what Yixing might be doing, or how he’s coping with all the rehearsals and shows, or whether his back is still bothering him.

This is the main reason why Yifan had been so against Yixing going overseas, even if it’s meant to be a good exposure for the dancer. With Yixing so far away, out of his sight, he can’t even protect the younger boy when the need arises. And it frustrates Yifan that he can’t do anything about it right now. He doesn’t share the fact that Yixing had secretly contacted him through their mind channels one night, telling him that _someone’s watching me closely over here, I can’t call you as often as I did but don’t worry, I’ll take good care of myself,_ because he thinks the others have enough on their plates as it is.

Yifan sighs and kneads his aching head with his knuckles, hoping fervently that Yixing’s message would show up in his phone soon.

But it doesn’t, even as Yifan drifts to sleep hours later with Yixing’s name on his lips.

 

**

 

Seven men step onto the pavement outside the double-storey house while everyone else sleeps, scheming smirks on their faces as they listen for any noise coming from within. The smiles grow wider when they are met with complete silence. It’s a perfect scenario for their plans, and they were itching to get started. All they require is a verbal order from their leader to begin.

“It’s a shame they don’t have their healer with them.” Jisuk says, almost sympathetically, but they all know it’s just for show. He snaps his fingers, which resounded through the quiet air, and everything, even the gentle breeze of the night, seems to stop in motion around the group. Jisuk smirks contentedly at his own work.

“Did they not realise this is all a ploy to get that boy away from them so that we could set our plans in motion? I’m disappointed,” Woojung hums as he clenches and unclenches his fist, getting himself warmed up for the impending action – and chaos. The adrenaline is coursing through his veins, exciting everything in its wake.

“They _did_ suspect that,” Songhyun points out smugly, “but dancer boy’s desire to perform was too strong for them to object to it. It’s such a delight to watch their guardian of flight wallow in misery because of their healer’s absence, isn’t that right, _Woojung_?”

Woojung flips a finger at Songhyun, duly ignoring his snide comments as Jisuk sidles up to him. “Fuck you, Songhyun. There’s no need to bring up old stories now. Focus on your damned job or stay out of the way.”

Songhyun shrugs and ambles over to where Jongmin and Kwangyeol are standing, well out of Woojung’s attacking range. Getting a rise out of the almost-always calm and collected Woojung is priceless, and always gives him a certain amount of satisfaction he could never get out of teasing Jongmin.

“Are you ready to do your part, Kwangyeol?” Songhyun asks, and the smirk on the other man’s face is telling enough as he flexes his fingers eagerly.

“Are you kidding me, Songhyun? I’ve been ready for _decades_ now,” he says, flames dancing dangerously on the tips of his fingers and in his eyes. The rest of his accomplices take a tentative step backwards, well out of his range. When he receives the affirmation from Youngmin in the form of a slight nod, Kwangyeol snaps his fingers together, and relishes as an orange glow spreads like wildfire in front of them.

The flames lick through the grass rapidly, spreading all the way to the porch and then there’s the telling smell of burning wood that makes Kwangyeol grin like a maniac and the other men watch with varying degrees of excitement and smirks on their faces as the fire eats at the building, quickly causing black smoke to rise into the night. Lights start to come on in the upper windows and they can hear shouts going on, frenzied shadows running back and forth against the translucent curtains.

But then Youngmin snaps his fingers, and the lights in the house black out suddenly and the shouting gets louder as their prey become more panicked. He turns to Jongmin with a sinister smile, and gives him an encouraging pat on the shoulder. “Do what you have to do, Jongmin. Just. Don’t kill anyone – it’s much too early for that.”

“My pleasure,” the younger man says, complete with a smirk and a mock bow and then he’s gone from the garden.

“Well then,” Woojung pretends to take a look at his watch, then at his accomplices; time doesn’t even matter much to them, not when Jisuk’s ability is still up and running. “I guess it’s time for us to take our leave, gentlemen?” He’s convinced there won’t be any casualties from this incident. It’s only supposed to serve as a mere warning to the Guardians that they will not hold back from this point onwards.

“Yes, let’s go, there’s still that board meeting in the morning tomorrow,” Sooman points out, making the rest of them glare daggers at him. He’s the first to get pulled through the void that appears out of nowhere, courtesy of Jongmin, before the others follow in his footsteps with one last, satisfied look at the chaos they have caused.

This is the true beginning of their attacks.

 

**

 

Yifan wakes up to smoke clogging up his airways, making him choke and gasp for air as the noxious substance continues to invade his lungs. He thinks he’s submerged in a nightmare for a moment (he’s been having _too many_ of them ever since Yixing’s gone, contributing to his sleepless nights), but then he’s suddenly all too lucid when the heat from the flames lick at his skin, the beads of sweat covering his body a sticky layer in the still air.  

“Holy fuck!” He swears, and he can hear Junmyeon and Jongdae coughing out loud, and Minseok yelling to Luhan and telling the rest of them to _get the fuck down on the ground._ The dorm manager is shouting out to them from below and then Jongin is swearing as well.

“Junmyeon hyung!” It’s Sehun yelling now, but Yifan can’t see him through the thick blanket of smog floating in the air. It gets even worse when the lights suddenly go out; the fire must have burned through the wires somehow. He deduces that the youngest guardian is closer to Junmyeon, because the Water Guardian reels around in search of Sehun when he hears his voice. “Junmyeon hyung, use your powers to put out the fire!”

“Are you crazy?! I can’t risk that in front of manager hyung!” Junmyeon coughs out. “We need to get out of the house. _Now_.” Luhan quickly relays the message through all of their minds and they agree to meet in the garden shortly.

_Be careful and stay safe!_ He cautions, and then all of them are keeping as close to the ground as possible, practically crawling their way out of their rooms as quickly as they can away from the ever spreading fire. Yifan grows increasingly unsettled by the circumstances surrounding the fire, but he tries to shove those feelings down and concentrate on the path ahead of him before his oxygen supply runs out. It’s difficult to breathe, and he’s desperate for fresh air – they all are.

It feels like forever when they finally barrel out into the garden, coughing and hacking and furiously wiping at the tears triggered by the sting of smoke. Yifan is still gasping for air when he catches sight of Junmyeon forcefully pulling himself to stand even though he’s still coughing away, going around doing a head count of the guardians who are scattered everywhere to ensure everyone is out of the burning house. Yifan also begins to sweep his tired gaze around to countercheck their numbers, to give himself a peace of mind.

He notices that Baekhyun and Chanyeol are huddled together near the post-box, with the taller boy cradling Baekhyun in his arms and trying to calm him down. Baekhyun’s still trembling from the shock, and even though Chanyeol’s mental state is nowhere near stable himself, Yifan can see he’s trying to keep himself together. Luhan and Jongin have their backs pressed against each other’s, chests heaving violently, but their hands are entwined in a tight grasp, as though deathly afraid of losing the other even if they’re seated so close together.

Minseok and Kyungsoo are seated with their backs against the closest light pole, staring at the mess that is their dorm while Zitao and Sehun are talking in low voices. Yifan breathes in relief, that’s ten of them there and for once he’s glad that Yixing is in Japan, so that only leaves Jongdae and knowing the thunder guardian he’s most probably with Junmy-

“Where’s Jongdae?” The relief gets cut off suddenly at the distress in Junmyeon’s voice. “Did he come out with us? I thought he was right behind me but _where is he_?”

“I’m sure he was several steps ahead of me-” Sehun begins in confusion and glances everywhere in search of the lightning guardian.

“Jongdae!” The dorm manager catches on to Junmyeon’s panic and starts calling out for the boy. “Kim Jongdae, this is _not_ the time to be pulling awful pranks like this! _Shit_.” He curses out loud when there’s no response, quickly fishing out his phone and dialling the number to the emergency service.

Meanwhile, the other boys leap to their feet, the wariness and panic seeping into their senses. The deeply unsettling feelings from before reclaims Yifan’s mind, and judging by the sharp look Luhan sends in his direction, it’s apparent that he has caught on to Yifan’s thoughts.

“I can’t feel him anywhere around us,” Junmyeon’s face is worried as he chews at his lip, throwing out his mind in an attempt to contact Jongdae but failing when he can’t even sense Jongdae’s mind anywhere. He is simply _not there_ , and the only thing that stops Junmyeon from going crazy and thinking that the thunder guardian is dead is because he can still feel that bond between them. He flashes a forced smile at Minseok when the older boy wraps an arm around his shoulder and squeezes him in a comforting gesture.

“But that’s impossible. How could he suddenly go missing when he’s in such close proximity with us all this while?” Kyungsoo splutters, confused.

Sehun chips in as he shoots a worried look at the dorm manager’s direction; the man is in the midst of a very stressful phone call to the higher management, if his constipated expressions are anything to go by. “And how are we going to explain to manager hyung about Jongdae hyung’s disappearance? The company will think he’s dead if he doesn’t show up soon.”

“Already taken care of. He’ll tell them that we’re safe and that Jongdae’s back at his parents’ place in the meantime due to personal family matters.” Luhan speaks up quietly, and in tandem, their manager calms down significantly. No one had to ask to know that Luhan has tampered with their dorm manager’s mind. “It’ll at least buy us some time until we can locate Jongdae.” He explains grimly, seemingly uncomfortable. Luhan has never been fond of the idea of altercating another person’s memories.

“It’s _them_ , isn’t it?” Yifan asks, seeking Jongin and Luhan out for confirmation.

Jongin’s expression is grim as he gives an affirmative nod. “It’s most likely their work. Minseok hyung tried to reduce the intensity of the fire by icing it earlier, but it was close to impermeable. It’s not the usual fire from a short-circuit. Nothing man-made, definitely.”

“ _Fuck_.” Junmyeon mutters as he sits down next to Kyungsoo, head in his hands and obviously frustrated to no end. The younger boy pats his arm sympathetically. Junmyeon has never really cursed before since they’ve been on Earth but a missing Jongdae is more than enough reason for him to start doing so. “This can’t be happening. Where have they taken Jongdae? _Why_ would they want to take Jongdae?”

“It’s obviously a ploy to shake us up,” Luhan shakes his head. “There are too many things that don’t add up, and they know too much about us.” He looks straight at Junmyeon.

“They might even know about the bond, you know.” The water guardian stares right back at him, eyes almost as wide as Kyungsoo’s, incredulous but also fearful because if they could find out about _that_ , then Jongdae might be in even more danger than he thought.

“But we never- how could they _know?_ ” Junmyeon splutters.

“If they’re capable enough to set fire to our dorm, and perhaps teleport Jongdae away without having _any_ of us noticing, chances are they have the same knowledge and powers as we do, and know of your marks from the past.” Yifan comments, eyebrows furrowed in concentration.

“At least we know that Jongdae hyung’s safe.” Kyungsoo says in an attempt to make Junmyeon feel slightly more at ease. He has half the mind to mention about Yixing as well, but doesn’t think Yifan would be calm enough to last through the discussion if he did. Yifan has a frantic undertone in his eyes as it is.

“For now at least,” Junmyeon mutters lowly, but who knows how long that will last? He balls his hands into fists to keep the slight tremble that goes through them show to the rest of the boys.

_Protectors, if you’re listening, please, please keep Jongdae safe. That’s all I ask._

 


	27. {26} bend or break

Jongdae wakes up to the sound of low voices engaged in a deep conversation somewhere near him. His head hurts a great deal, almost like someone’s bashed it in with a fucking brick, his throat raw from being corroded by god-knows-what, and above all, he realises belatedly, that _he can’t see_. The voices cease suddenly as he groans, and from the way his hands seem to be restrained behind the chair that he’s sitting on, it doesn’t take a genius to know that he’s definitely nowhere near the dorms and that he’s been kidnapped. _Fuck_ , he groans in his mind, unaware that he is echoing Junmyeon’s sentiments far across the city.  

“Ah, our little thunder boy is awake.” A voice that he recognises as Songhyun’s speaks up, almost too close and too loud in his ears that Jongdae jerks away reflexively, nearly toppling himself over in the process. “Good morning, sunshine. Enjoyed your little nap?”

Jongdae swallows the ‘ _fuck you_ ’ that’s on the tip of his tongue and stays silent instead. It’s not like he can say anything properly when there’s a gag in his mouth anyway.

“Being stubborn won’t do you any good, you know,” Kwangyeol deadpans from across the room when he catches on to Jongdae’s silent defiance. “We can do _anything_ to you right now and you won’t be able to do a single thing about it. Not when you’re all tied up like that. I’m sure your _Junmyeon hyung_ would be delighted to tie you up like this, though. Am I right?”

This time he can’t stop the snarl that leaves his lips, muffled against the gag in his mouth and he lunges in the direction of the voice, only to find that he’s been tied securely to the chair too because there’s a piece of rope or fabric that stretches across his chest and arms, effectively restricting his movements. A chorus of laughter follows his pathetic attempts at fighting against the restraints, cynical and mocking, and Jongdae feels the pressure of frustrated tears pressing at the back of his eyes.

“Y’know, he won’t be able to talk if you guys gag him like that.” Someone else points out, not sounding very much interested in the current proceedings. And as if on tandem, someone pulls out the bundle of cloth stuffed in Jongdae’s mouth and unties the blindfold around his eyes. Jongdae clamps his eyes shut at the sudden brightness that infiltrates his senses. He squints his eyes, taking in the figures in the room, surprised and shocked to see that Lee Sooman is one of them.

He therefore tries to relay the scene to Luhan through their mind channels, to alert his friends who exactly is behind everything, but before he could even attempt to establish contact, Kwangyeol is already by his side, yanking the roots of his hair _hard_.

“Now now, Jongdae, none of that. You’ll only get to go home to your _Junmyeon hyung_ if you’re a very good boy.” The dance choreographer hisses and Jongdae wants to throw up because how could the people that they trusted the most to mentor them in the company turn out to be so _twisted_?

“What do you _want_ with me?” Jongdae growls through clenched teeth, glaring up at Kwangyeol with hatred in his eyes. There’s no question that the fire at their dorm was this group’s doing, but Jongdae wants to know the reasons behind their actions.

Another man steps up to Jongdae and grabs him by the jaw, and Jongdae’s eyes widened when he realises it’s the _company’s CEO_ looking straight at him. “That is a good question, Jongdae. What do you think we’re planning on doing with you?” He smiles sinisterly, but the gaze in his eyes stirs a sense of familiarity in Jongdae. His mind is in shock as he absorbs the reality of it all; sees Jung Songhyun smiling from across the room with another man who he remembers vaguely seeing now and then in the agency and thinks _fuck, this is worse than we thought._

Honestly, what could be worse than having the entirety of the top brass of their management company planning a conspiracy against them?

 

**

 

Junmyeon is a complete wreck when morning finally dawns the next day, and he’s only barely aware that he probably looks like a ghost with prominent eye bags because the Water guardian hasn’t gotten much sleep at all, too worried about where Jongdae is and whether he’s actually safe or not. They’ve managed to hole up at one of the nearby trainee dorms, all of them split up for the night in different rooms and it’s a bit unnerving having to live with trainees that they aren’t as close to, after living in one house with the rest of the guardians for such a long time.

A hand on his shoulder makes him jump out of his covers, water molecules collecting at the tips of his fingers because he’s been edgy and worried that someone might attack them out of nowhere. The face that greets his sight has a deep scowl etched onto it.

“Junmyeon, chill the fuck out. It’s just me,” Minseok frowns at him disapprovingly, before his attention flickers towards Junmyeon’s hands. “You should keep that out of sight before the others notice it.”

Junmyeon swallows down the apprehension and lets the water particles dissipate back into air, rubbing his eyes tiredly with a hand. “Sorry, hyung,” he mutters, sincere even though his voice doesn’t seem to convey it properly at the moment. “This is even worse than when we were back on EXO Planet. At least I _knew_ he was safe there. But _this_ right now.” He leans against the wall, his head thumping softly against concrete.

“Not knowing where he is and having this blank spot where he’s supposed to be is driving me insane.”

Minseok hops onto the bed and settles himself next to Junmyeon, pulling the younger boy’s head down so that he could rest against Minseok’s shoulder. “I know just how much Jongdae means to you, Junmyeon. But you’re one of the most level-headed persons amongst us all. Yifan’s already bordering on neurotic and we don’t need you going down that road as well.” He reaches over awkwardly to pat the younger boy’s head, thinks he should try cracking a joke to make Junmyeon feel better.

“Jongdae will be alright. He’s strong enough to deal with whatever they throw at him. He must be, since you picked him, right? C’mon, have some faith in your troll lover.”

Junmyeon chuckles wryly at that.

“Yes,” Junmyeon agrees, metaphoric fist around his heart less constricting than it was before.

Minseok pats his head again. “You should get some sleep in. I’m supposed to drop the message that our practice is cancelled for today. We’ll continue worrying about how to get Jongdae back when you’re fresher, okay?” Junmyeon nods in acquiescence, and silently thanks the Guardian of Ice with a hug.

Junmyeon could rest easier after Minseok’s round of consoling, but he nearly falls off the bed for the second time that morning, right before he dozes off to sleep, when an unfamiliar face suddenly appears under his covers with him, grinning almost maniacally.

“Don’t shout for help now. You’re going to regret it if you do.” The man warns when Junmyeon’s about to open his mouth, grin still intact. Junmyeon gulps convulsively, doing as he’s told.

“Who are you, and where did you come from? What do you want with me?” Junmyeon whispers back furiously, backing away from the man. The stranger is too close for comfort.

The man chuckles. “So many questions; both you and your little lover. The bond’s really strong, huh. You’re even asking the exact same questions.” Junmyeon’s blood freezes.

“Who the _fuck_ are you and what have you done to him?!”

“Wouldn’t you like to know?” He flashes a row of teeth at Junmyeon, a taunting undertone in his voice. “We might have _accidentally_ tortured him somewhat, but then again, maybe not.”

Junmyeon is furious at the thought of Jongdae being hurt but he manages to stop himself from lunging forward because who knows what kind of powers – and he’s pretty sure by now that he _must_ have some, because how could he have suddenly ended up in Junmyeon’s temporary bed otherwise? – this man has, and he’s not about to do something that might endanger Jongdae even more.

Junmyeon settles back warily, furiously trying to reach Luhan in his mind, but a searing pain that flares white-hot against his eyes makes him groan and clutch his head.

“Ah, ah, ah. Can’t have you contacting your little friends now, can I? So many of you against poor old me,” the man mocks again condescendingly before leaning in towards Junmyeon’s ear to whisper.

“Try that again and I can _guarantee_ that your lover will have even _more_ injuries when you finally see him.”

Junmyeon’s hands ball up into fists by his side, nails digging into the flesh of his palm at the threat. “ _Please_ ,” he pleads, “don’t hurt Jongdae. I’ll- I’ll do anything you want me to. Just. Please, not him.”

“ _Anything_ , you say.” The smirk on the man’s face grows sharper, wider and Junmyeon’s heart plunges all the way to his stomach because he doesn’t need to know that it’s a _really, really_ bad idea. Before he can say another word, though, Junmyeon’s vision blacks out, and he finds his consciousness going, going, gone.

 

**

 

Junmyeon stirs in his sleep, grimacing a little when he feels the coldness pressed against his cheek. The air around him smells damp, and he realises a minute too late that he isn’t lying on his temporary bed, but rather a flat, hard surface. When the memories from earlier returns to him, his eyes fly wide open, and he jolts up at once.

He clutches his head and groans when the pain wreaks havoc in his skull, but is suddenly sober when he hears a familiar voice calling for him. Gingerly, Junmyeon pulls himself to stand, shaking his head once, twice more to force his swimming vision to settle down. “Jongdae...” He calls out weakly, hoping that he’ll get a response from the boy. “Jongdae, where are you?” The bond between them throbs to life in his veins and he can feel Jongdae close by.

“Junmyeon hyung, run! Please, run! Don’t-” Jongdae shouts back, only to have his words swallowed by a cry of pain. It’s all that’s needed for Junmyeon to force himself to run towards Jongdae’s voice, ignoring the wave of nausea that hits him. He skids to a stop when he turns around a corner and finds himself in a room full of people, mouth suddenly dry at the sight that greets him.

In the middle of that room is Jongdae all tied up, bruised in several places and bleeding from the corner of his lips. His heart aches something painful at the sight, especially at the stricken look of fear on Jongdae’s face. And then the panic surges within him when he recognises the faces in the room with him.

While he had expected to see Songhyun and Kwangyeol, the other faces comes as a complete surprise to him; never in his life did he expect to be faced with the top guns of the company.

Steeling his nerves, Junmyeon swallows thickly and steps up. “Let him go.” He demands, ignoring the pleading looks Jongdae’s sending at him. It takes all that Junmyeon has to not run up to Jongdae and cradle the boy in his arms.

“Are you sure you’re in a position to make demands, Kim Junmyeon? Or should I say, _Suho_?” The man who had been in Junmyeon’s room earlier drawls from his position on the couch, with a grin of Cheshire cat proportions.

Junmyeon breathes evenly, fights not to let any expression show on his face because he knows that he’s being baited and if he rises to the taunt, who knows what they would do to Jongdae? They are in the enemy’s lair and anything he does would have repercussions, because they already seem to know absolutely _everything_ about them at this point, and lying or acting dumb would probably be a very, very bad idea.

“What do you want from us?” The water guardian speaks and he’s glad that his voice doesn’t waver.

The CEO of their management company threads his fingers through Jongdae’s hair with a smirk on his face, as if knowing it would rile Junmyeon up. “The Tree of Life.” He says firmly, his gaze holding Junmyeon’s down. “Give us the location of the Tree, and I’ll consider sparing your sorry lives.”

“I don’t know where the Tree is-” Junmyeon begins, but keeps quiet when Kim Youngmin raises his index finger at him.

“I know; your little lover here told us,” Youngmin chuckles, and suddenly yanks at Jongdae’s hair, making the Thunder Guardian growl in pain. “But if you want your precious little Kim Jongdae back in one piece _and alive_ , you’ll have to lend us a helping hand.”

“So what you’re saying is that you want me to be your spy.” Junmyeon says flatly, lips pressed into a thin line at the way that Jongdae is being treated.

“You said you’d do _anything_ , didn’t you?” The man who had appeared in his bed singsongs as he plays with a wine glass and Junmyeon eyes him warily. He disappears and then reappears in front of Junmyeon and there’s a sardonic smile on his face. “Then let me ask you this, Kim Junmyeon- _ssi_ ,” and the honorific is as much of a lie as the sarcastic, polite tone that is evident in his voice.

“ _What is the price you’d be willing to pay?_ ”

“Hyung, don’t do this. Don’t betray the rest because of me.” Jongdae braves his impending torture and pleads, voice bordering on hysterical as he struggles against his restraints and Youngmin’s hold. “ _Just go._ Leave me and _go_.”

The older boy refuses to look at him, eyes the rest of the figures in the room, and then finally meets Kim Youngmin’s calculating eyes. “You have yourself a deal, but you’ll leave him alone and leave the others out of this.”

“That was fast.” Youngmin lets go of Jongdae’s hair suddenly and the thunder guardian’s head falls forward with the force of it. “And here I thought you would take much longer to weigh your decision, but you truly are a credit to your guardian name, _Suho_.” His smile is thin, stretched at the lips and chilling.

“Very well, you have yourself a deal.”

The group of men appears contented at Junmyeon’s promise, and sticks to their end of the deal by leaving Jongdae alone. As they walk past Junmyeon, Youngmin squeezes his shoulder to get his attention, smiling at the Water Guardian when he turns to look at him. “Further details will be made known to you through Songhyun. I trust you won’t inform Luhan that Songhyun now has access to your mind?”

Junmyeon clenches his teeth and averts his gaze, feeling his heart thump painfully in response at his own betrayal of his brothers. “I won’t. You have my word.” Youngmin smirks satisfactorily and leaves him alone with Jongdae, trusting them to find their own way out.

When they finally disappear from sight, Junmyeon allows the long-suppressed panic to take control of his being, and he immediately runs towards Jongdae to untie the younger boy. “Jongdae, are you alright? Did they inflict any serious injuries on you?” The strain in his voice is obvious, trembling, cracking at its edges as he fusses over his lover. To his confusion, Jongdae ignores him completely and shrugs away from his touch, as though any contact from Junmyeon seared against his skin.

“Jongdae? What’s wrong?” The thunder guardian steadfastly ignores him and rubs at his wrists to get the blood circulation back into them, and when Junmyeon moves closer to look at his sore wrists, Jongdae snaps at him and slaps his fingers away and the accusation in his eyes cuts Junmyeon right to the bone.

“ _How could you?!_ ” Jongdae’s voice is low and angry and hurt. “You should have just let them torture me, but instead of that you’re going to _be their fucking spy_. You’re going to tell them _everything_ we know and you’re going to tell them about the _Tree of Life_ and who knows what the fuck they’ll do with it. We were made guardians for a _damn good reason_ , Junmyeon and you _know_ that!”

“Do you really think that I didn’t think about that? Do you _really_ think that I didn’t weigh the consequences? Jongdae, _please-_ ” And now it’s Junmyeon’s turn to plead and he _knows_ just how angry the thunder guardian is at him and how disappointed in him the others will be and if there’s a chance of being able to pull this off and make sure that Jongdae doesn’t get _hurt_ , at the very least they have to act as if nothing is wrong but how can he even do this when Jongdae won’t even let him _touch_ him?

“ _Don’t even come near me.”_ Jongdae hisses, and Junmyeon stops in his advancement, not wanting to push the Thunder Guardian away any more than he already has. “As a Guardian, I’m more than willing to _die_ for the sake of protecting the Tree, so don’t give me bullshit that you’ve been weighing your options because _I don’t want to see you doing this._ ”

Junmyeon reels around and runs his fingers through his hair in frustration, swallowing the outburst that’s on the tip of his tongue. He takes in a deep breath and tries to convince Jongdae again. “And you think I’d be _okay_ if I just walked away and allowed you to get _killed_? Do you seriously think my feelings for you are that shallow, Kim Jongdae?!”

“Stop overreacting! They wouldn’t have killed me. If you actually _thought_ about it rationally you would _know_ that! And you know I don’t think that! You _know_ that even though the tattoo we had doesn’t show up on our wrists anymore that it’s always been more than that! But now we’re all sitting ducks because of _you!”_  Jongdae is close to shouting now because he’s not sure what hurts worse – the fact that he wasn’t strong enough to fight them off by himself, or the fact that Junmyeon was willing to sacrifice _everything_ – their brothers, the Tree of Life, maybe even Earth itself. _For him._

“ _They burned our dorm down without any qualms_.” Junmyeon snaps right back, the tears of frustration now brimming in his eyes. “They _can_ and _will_ kill you if they don’t get what they want. _I can’t let you die._ ”

Jongdae seems to want to retort against that, but he exhales noisily and walks away from Junmyeon instead, not wanting to face him any longer. “Save it for someone who cares, Junmyeon.” His voice is quiet, but it cuts Junmyeon up deep inside regardless.

Right before he leaves the room, he can’t help but make one last parting shot, even though he knows it will hurt Junmyeon, words that will flay him right down to the bone.

“Kim Youngmin might have said that you’re a credit to your guardian name, but right now, Junmyeon, right now, all you’re doing it is _sullying_ it because of your selfishness. You’re not living up to the name _Suho_ _at all_.”

Watching his lover’s retreating back, Junmyeon finds the energy leaving his lower limbs completely, and he slumps to the floor in a broken mess, fists clenched tightly against the cold cement. Being trapped in a situation where he had to choose between the love of his life and his duties as a guardian is possibly the cruellest fate he has had to face, and he doesn’t think it’s fair that he has to be forced to make this decision.

What is worse is that he thinks Jongdae is mostly right about him not living up to his name.

But the deed has been done, and there’s nothing else he can do but watch Jongdae walk away from him, their relationship doomed to probably never be whole again.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yay angst angst angst angst angst


	28. {27} stuck

Nobody is more surprised than Yifan when Junmyeon tiredly contacts him through his mind again, telling the Guardian of Flight that he’s found Jongdae, and that they’re a bit worse for wear, but they’re alright and ready to get home soon. They take a nerve-wracking two hours to arrive back at their temporary dorms, and Yifan tries to pry the details out of Junmyeon, but the younger boy remains tight-lipped about how he’d managed to find Jongdae.

Any attempts by Luhan to access Junmyeon’s thoughts are blocked out as well, and Junmyeon pointedly tells them to fuck off by the tenth time his mind is stirred. The foul language that leaves Junmyeon’s mouth makes all of them stare in shock at Junmyeon, because no matter how tired or frustrated he is, he has always kept the curse words to a bare minimum. The way he says them this time, bitter and angry with an underlying something _else_ is exceptionally disconcerting.

Jongdae is no better when they try to ask him about his captivity; all that the Thunder Guardian tells them is that he got kidnapped, and that they were up against more than they had initially thought.

What really throws all of them off, however, is how strained the interaction between Junmyeon and Jongdae is. It’s disconcerting to see how Jongdae ignores the older boy completely when Junmyeon is talking to him, and Yifan can see it so clearly, the way that hurt flashes in the Water Guardian’s eyes before he puts up a smile that is so fake, a single push would wipe it right off his face.

With neither of them talking, nobody can figure out what on earth went wrong that night, or why Junmyeon and Jongdae are acting like this, when they were practically inseparable before. It gets worse when they move into their new dorms, this time being told that they’ll be living in two separate apartment units, six boys each, and Jongdae doesn’t even complain when the manager tells him that he’ll be rooming with Yixing, breezing right past Junmyeon before the older boy can even protest.

The atmosphere in the dorm is so tense that it frustrates everyone, in particular Luhan and Jongin. Being the one who connects everyone’s mind channels together, Luhan’s the one who feels the strain the most, because his hold on the other guardians’ minds depends on the strength of their bond. At the rate that Junmyeon and Jongdae are going, spending days on end without even speaking to each other, Luhan’s struggling to keep it all in place, and Jongin can only watch on helplessly by the side, unable to help Luhan ease his mental strain at all.

Some of them are starting to take sides too, and it is plain to see that Minseok is very, very angry at Jongdae, especially during their vocal classes together and even the instructor stares between Junmyeon and Jongdae strangely, scolding them when neither of them can convey the feeling that he wants them to, and Jongdae looks on fiercely with sharp nods of his heads while Junmyeon just nods tiredly at the criticism and promises to do better. When Jongdae leaves with just a curt, “I’m heading back first,” without even looking at Junmyeon, it is all Luhan can do to hold Minseok back from lunging forward at Jongdae while Baekhyun and Kyungsoo exchange worried glances. Kyungsoo steps forward to place a hand on Junmyeon’s shoulder, patting the older boy in a gesture of comfort, and the water guardian’s smile at him is wobbly, eyes red and the way he swallows convulsively is just another indication of how close he is to an emotional breakdown.

“I’m going to kill him one of these days, I swear,” Minseok seethes. “This is not the time to be pulling this kind of shit and he _swore_ on EXO Planet he would never be such an ass to Junmyeon again, but now he’s gone and done _this_!”

“Minseok hyung, _please_ , don’t make things any worse than it already is.” Junmyeon sighs, exhausted beyond belief by everything that’s going on. “Stay away from Jongdae for the time being, _I’m begging you_.”

The water guardian lets out a yelp of pain when Yifan marches right up to him and cuffs him at the back of his head. “Will you tell us what’s going on already?”

“I can’t,” Junmyeon rubs at his burning eyes, wishing that he could go back in time again and actually do something different about his decision, but even Zitao’s power can’t bring him back to the past to change what has already been done.

“Can’t? Or _won’t?_ ” Yifan snaps, also on the edge because Yixing still hasn’t returned and although he won’t admit it, seeing Junmyeon and Jongdae – practically the golden couple within their group – like this has rattled him more than he would care to admit. If there is something that could tear even Junmyeon and Jongdae apart like this, then what about him and Yixing, who weren’t even bonded in the sense that the water guardian and thunder guardian were?

“ _I can’t_ , and I mean it.” Junmyeon retorts, returning Yifan’s glare with one of equal intensity. “Things aren’t as simple as you think it is.”

“If you refuse to clarify it, then we’ll never be able to help you,” Jongin cuts in, looking extremely cross at Junmyeon.

Junmyeon breathes noisily and runs a hand through his hair in frustration, then looks away from Jongin and Yifan. “Forget it, I don’t need your help. I’ll figure this out myself.” He says, and leaves the room without giving them the opportunity to prod further into the matter.

There is a saying that goes ‘things get a lot worse before they get better’, and the guardians have no idea how true that statement will be in the near future. All they hope is for the situation to be resolved soon, before the divide grows even wider.

 

**

 

Junmyeon reels around angrily when someone catches him by the shoulder, half-expecting one of his friends to have caught up to him, but he takes a tentative step backwards when Jung Songhyun’s face greets him instead. “Mr. Jung,” he greets cautiously, “is there something you need from me?”

Songhyun shrugs nonchalantly. “Just checking to see whether you’re holding up your end of the deal. I certainly hope you haven’t forgotten about it.”

“Of course not,” Junmyeon says curtly, hands balling up into fists by his side. He doesn’t need the constant reminder that his decision has driven Jongdae away from him, that he’s hurting every passing second of the day because of it. “I’ve done exactly what you’ve asked me to. Nobody knows.”

The smile that curls on Songhyun’s lips has Junmyeon’s stomach lurching. “Good. Surely you wouldn’t want anything to happen to your Chen, would you?”

The water guardian swallows down the urge to curse the crafty man, but the smile that morphs into a smirk says that he knows otherwise. “No, of course not.”

“Marvellous.” The pat Songhyun gives his shoulder feels more like a ton of bricks. “And don’t forget to keep up your side of the bargain. We’re still waiting for that information about the whereabouts of the Tree of Life.” Then the Head of the Trainee Department is walking away and Junmyeon stares angrily at his back, wishing he was brave enough to spring an attack on the man without endangering Jongdae’s life.

“So this is what it’s all about. You’re planning on betraying us, aren’t you?” A quiet voice speaks up from behind when Jung Songhyun is finally out of sight and hearing range, and Junmyeon stiffens in response. He turns slowly, already knowing who it is from the voice alone, and he isn’t surprised at all to see Minseok looking at him with a frown on his face.

Junmyeon doesn’t deny it, but there’s a wry and bitter smile that twists at his lips, and Minseok knows that just like Junmyeon had told Yifan earlier, things aren’t as simple as he thinks they are, and there is a _lot_ more backstory to that.

“How much of that did you hear, hyung?”

“The part where Jung Songhyun mentioned the Tree of Life.” Minseok says, lips pressed into a thin line in disapproval. “Why are you doing this?”

Junmyeon rubs his eyes tiredly at that. “You’re smart, Minseok hyung. Why would I do something like that, huh?”

Minseok watches him closely as Junmyeon puts down his backpack and digs out a notebook and a pen, eyes closed as he scribbles something on a piece of paper before he tears it out and folds it before handing it to the older boy. The guardian of ice eyes him strangely; why on earth did he need to close his eyes to do that at all?

“Open it after I leave,” he says, and zips up his bag again before hefting it onto his shoulder, and Minseok waits, not sure how exactly the piece of paper might be able to answer his question until Junmyeon turns around the bend and the guardian of ice is left standing alone in the corridor.

He unfolds the piece of paper, eyes quickly scanning the words on it and everything clicks into place, while his heart plummets somewhere down to the vicinity of his stomach.

“Junmyeon, not _again_?” Minseok intones sadly, fingers balling up the piece of paper into a fist.

_Hyung, what would you do if you had to choose between your lover’s life and betraying your brothers?_ _I’m sorry._

 

**

 

“You shouldn’t push the poor boy any further. He looks like he’s on the verge of losing his mind.”

Songhyun glances up from his paperwork when someone walks into his room, and he lounges back into his chair when he finds Sooman looking at him expectantly from the doorway. He can’t say he’s surprised to see Sooman in his room so soon after his private meeting with Suho; Sooman has always been softer on the trainees in their company, and more perceptive in more ways than one.

“And? Is there a problem with that?” He smiles.

“ _There will be one_ when we debut them.” Sooman maintains. “Isn’t there another way for us to get the information on the Tree of Life that won’t jeopardise the trainees’ mental health? It wouldn’t be good for the group’s dynamics if they’re at odds with one another and they won’t last in the eyes of the public either. You _know_ this.”

“Ah, but isn’t there that saying that goes ‘what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger’?” Songhyun’s smile is not at all reassuring, eyes hard and unforgiving. “If they are really the _strongest guardians_ as they should be, this should be a drop in the sea for them. Maybe they’ll surprise us just yet with their resilience. This Suho certainly seems to be doing well.”

Sooman appears unconvinced by Songhyun’s words. “The trainers are reporting that he’s been losing his focus during training way too often. I dread to think what your standards for ‘doing well’ are, because he definitely doesn’t cut it in my books. Kim Jongdae isn’t doing much better either, and the vocal trainers are especially disappointed that he hasn’t been hitting his notes effortlessly like he usually does in the past week.”

Songhyun ‘tsks’ irritatedly at the other man. “Are you willing to go against Youngmin’s specific orders then?”

“If their standard continues to be like this and their well-being actually _declines_ any more, then you can forget about getting them to even debut in the next half a year as was planned. _Everything_ will be derailed and do you think that would get us any closer to the Tree of Life?”

“Why don’t you bring this up to Youngmin _and then_ we’ll see what happens next?” Songhyun challenges with narrowed eyes.

“Maybe I will,” Sooman returns and meets his eyes steadily, because it’s no longer about the Tree but also about these budding young people that reminds Sooman of a time long ago and what it was like to be young then, and it would be a complete and utter waste if they fell apart like this, because of machinations they couldn’t retaliate against.

The older man raises an eyebrow at him. “My, you really do coddle your young ones, don’t you? Well, I’m sure Youngmin will have a lot to say about that.” He wiggles his fingers mockingly. “Be my guest.”

“Fine by me.” Sooman declares and storms out of the room, leaving Songhyun behind with an amused smirk on his face.  
  


**

 

Minseok stares at the crumpled piece of paper in his hands, contemplating for the umpteenth time that afternoon what he should do with the newfound piece of information. It’s one thing to find out what’s actually happening between Junmyeon and Jongdae, but it’s another to be burdened with the decision whether to inform the rest of the guardians or not. Junmyeon hadn’t exactly warned him against telling everyone else, but Jongdae’s life is on the line and Minseok doesn’t want to risk anything.

He may be angry with Jongdae, but his resentment for the hurt Jongdae had dealt to Junmyeon isn’t enough for him to truly wish for his death. If Junmyeon couldn’t even _look_ at what he was writing in order for him to get his message across, then Minseok can only imagine that there is some hold that Jung Songhyun and Kwangyeol-seonsaengnim have on him that would cause them to hurt – even _kill_ – Jongdae if they found out that Junmyeon told any of the others about them.

“Minseok, are _you_ in a slump too? I hope you’re not, because I don’t think I’ll be able to handle any more negativity than what I’m experiencing now,” Luhan’s voice, tired and weary, suddenly appeared next to Minseok, making him jump on his new bed.

“No! I mean, it’s nothing.” He surreptitiously shoves the crumpled piece of paper into the pocket of his shorts, but Luhan’s eyes spot it and they narrow at him.

“Is there something you know that you’re not telling me?”

“I can’t- _I don’t know_ whether I can tell anyone,” Minseok breathes, not even bothering to hide that fact anymore. Luhan’s resourceful enough to pry anything out of Minseok, even if Minseok doesn’t offer it on his own accord. “It’s not my position to tell.”

Luhan racks his brain for a way that he can get whatever information it is out of the guardian of ice without it being too probing, because it sounds as though the situation is more serious than it looks.

“How about I ask you some questions and then you can just nod or shake your head to tell me yes or no then?”

“Is there a difference between me doing that, and having me tell you verbally?” Minseok cocks his head to the side, frowning at Luhan. “I really _can’t_ say anything about it, Luhan.”

“Then just show me that piece of paper you just jammed into your pants.”

Minseok sighs and fishes the piece of paper out of his pocket, handing it over to Luhan reluctantly. He knows that if he continues being stubborn, Luhan will pounce on him at any given moment and wrestle it out of his grip anyway, and Jongin would join the fray in a heartbeat.

Luhan smoothens out the paper, scanning the words quickly, and he reads it over, once, twice, three times to make sure that he’s not seeing things. It all makes sense now, Junmyeon’s behaviour and Jongdae’s continuous silent rejection of the Water Guardian.

He rubs his eyes tiredly; there’s too much going on and he’s just really _really_ exhausted right now.

“We need to talk to Junmyeon.”

Minseok slumps into his bed, feeling the weariness taking over his mind. “That’s what I was afraid you’d say.”

 


	29. {28} can you keep a secret?

Junmyeon knows that his time for hiding secrets is up when Luhan and Jongin corner him a few days later, with Minseok distancing himself some ways off. Minseok appears uncomfortable being there, as though he’s feeling guilty about something. The rest of the boys are off involved with some other activities at the agency, and there’s only four of them in the apartment that houses most of the Korean members.

“I was wondering when you would find out,” Junmyeon says, smiling wanly and heading towards to the kitchen and to make himself a cup of hot chocolate. The rest follow him doggedly, as though he’d disappear from sight if they took their eyes off him for even a brief moment.

“How long were you planning on hiding this from us? Until we killed you? Until you killed yourself?” Luhan growls. “That’s very irresponsible and reckless of you! What makes you think it’s okay for you to make your own decisions, especially when it involves all of us?”

To Luhan’s frustration, Junmyeon covers his ears with his palms, then proceeds to press a finger against his lips when Luhan stops talking. “I’m not listening to you, Luhan hyung.”

“Junmyeon hyung, you take that back-” Jongin starts, only to be pulled back by Minseok. He puffs his cheeks in protest when Minseok gives him a disapproving glare.

“Why don’t we listen to what Junmyeon has to say about this?”

“I’m not going to say anything about it, either, Minseok hyung. Wait.”

Junmyeon pulls out a notebook from behind his back and places it on the table, sliding it towards the duo before plugging his ears in and turning on the music on his iPod so loud that Luhan can hear it clearly, the sounds of clashing metal and the roaring of lyrics and he’s slightly taken aback because when has _Junmyeon_ of all people ever listened to heavy metal?

The trio eye him strangely when he closes his eyes and feels around for the notepad that is always on the kitchen island and then proceeds to scribble haphazardly all over it with his eyes still closed, frowning while he mouths out whatever lyrics – if they can even be called that – that he’s listening to. When he pushes that towards them too it takes some time to decipher what it is that Junmyeon has written there. It looks like a huge jumble of words that don’t make sense at first, until Minseok grabs another pen and lines a few words.

_Can’t eat sleep breathe read dying inside why don’t you rip and tear it all to pieces this life and this book of lies and this heart of mine help me understand what you’re trying to say and don’t leave me to this misery because they’re not helping but you’re not listening and I will shatter shatter shatter crash and burn don’t tell me about danger because I live it I breathe it I smell it I taste it I can’t think about anything_

Luhan and Jongin stare at Minseok for a brief moment, wondering whether the Ice Guardian is making things up, but then the smile on Junmyeon’s face and the subtle thumbs up he gives Minseok is telling, and Luhan and Jongin open the book, flipping through the pages as the Water Guardian picks up his mug of hot chocolate and leaves the kitchen for his room.

Inside the book are pages and pages of indecipherable text which is just as bad as what Junmyeon had just written for them, except that it’s a million times messier, looks more like Yifan’s chicken scrawls than Junmyeon’s normally neat and tidy handwriting. Minseok points out the words that stand out the most and they flick him questioning glances more than once until Jongin finally can’t stand it.

“How do you know what Junmyeon hyung wants to say, Minseok hyung? I mean, this is all a bunch of nonsense for all we know?”

“Do you remember that almost disaster before Jongdae’s birthday back on EXO Planet? When Junmyeon hyung was asking me for ideas on what he could give Jongdae and the massive blowout that followed after? We wrote notes like this. It’s kind of like a code for the both of us.”

Luhan doesn’t seem convinced by Minseok’s explanation. “Then how do you know which are the words that are supposed to contribute to a sentence, and which aren’t? We can make up anything at all from this huge chunk of words.”

Minseok smiles wistfully at the challenge. “I know him well enough to _know_ what he’s trying to tell me. It’s up to you whether you want to believe in me, though.”

“Well then.” Luhan knows that expression a bit too well, has seen it on Sehun’s face often enough when the youngest thinks he’s not looking.

He passes the book to Minseok so that it’s easier for the eldest to underline the words, picking at the couch cushions while he waits impatiently and Jongin shuffles his feet, toes curling on the carpet for lack of anything to do. By the time Minseok’s done, Jongin is already lying on Luhan’s lap, fast asleep while Luhan threads his fingers through Jongin’s hair.

“I think this is it,” Minseok sighs, scrubbing his eyes tiredly as he hands the notebook back to Luhan. The younger guardian frowns in concentration, being prudent not to wake Jongin up, and scans through the messy scribble in the book, paying attention to the words that Minseok has underlined.

_I’m sorry for not saying anything about this until Minseok hyung confronted me. I wasn’t planning on telling anyone else either, because I thought I’d be able to handle things alone. It’s better this way, so that things won’t get out of hand, and if it does, I’ll be the only person involved in it._

_The thing is, they already had Jongdae tortured and weren’t even planning on letting him go until they secured a deal properly: that I would be their spy and find out from you and Jongin where the Tree of Life was and give them the location in exchange for them letting Jongdae go and to keep everyone else out of it._

_Please understand that I have absolutely no intention of ever giving away the true location of the Tree even if I_ did _manage to find out its whereabouts, but it was the only way that I could have gotten them to let go of Jongdae without them torturing him even further. I was trying to tell Jongdae that, but as you can see, I haven’t been able to talk to him since, and so he knows absolutely nothing about this._

_Don’t tell him. I’d rather suffer through this alone, having him ignore me, than to watch him struggle to put up an act. I know I sound stupid, but please, understand the reasons behind my actions. I would rather watch Jongdae being happy without me, than to have him suffer with me._

_It is a lot worse than we thought. Not only is Jung Songhyun and Kwangyeol-seonsaengnim involved in this – Kim Youngmin and Lee Sooman are involved too. I saw another two men who are part of the administrative side of things I think, because I remember seeing them around the company, but not as much on our side of the building. The third man. The third man..._

_Don’t take this wrong, Luhan hyung, but I think he has the exact same powers as Jongin does. He managed to teleport into my bed while we were rooming temporarily with the other trainees, and I think he was the one who kidnapped Jongdae when we were trying to get out of the burning house the other time._

_Maybe you might think that I’m overreacting but I really think they might have killed Jongdae if I’d told them no right out. Kim Youngmin was –_ is _– very scary, and there was this really ruthless look in his eyes that said he might actually do it if he felt so inclined. We can’t take this group of people lightly. They would_ really _kill us off, one by one, as long as they can get their hands on the Tree of Life. I don’t know why they’re so desperate to have it, but they’re not going to stop until they do._

_Songhyun has blocked Luhan hyung’s connection to me and that’s why you can’t see into my mind anymore. I’m worried to even_ think _about anything incriminating which is why I can only write this to you with my eyes closed as I listen to all the heavy metal music that plays on and on and on. It’s the only way that Songhyun won’t be able to see my thoughts because I’m not thinking it all out as I’m writing._

_That’s why it’s so messy, I’m sorry. But I trust that Minseok hyung will be able to decipher this, and I’m hoping_ desperately _that he will. It’s the only way I can get to you, but if he doesn’t..._

_Pretend you’ve never read this letter, and continue playing along and antagonising me in front of the others. We can’t risk having Songhyun and their group knowing. I’m sorry for putting you guys in danger because of my recklessness. I’ll make it up to you when the situation clears up, I promise._

_I’ll make it right._

“What are you guys doing here?” The sound of Yifan’s voice has Luhan jerking in his seat and Jongin almost slides completely off his lap, jolting awake. Minseok is nowhere to be seen and Luhan wonders how long it has been since he’s been flipping through the notebook and reading what Junmyeon wrote. He hurriedly tosses it to Jongin, who, still not quite yet awake, fumbles and drops the book to the floor and grabs it quickly but Yifan’s eyes follow the movement keenly.

“What is that?” The guardian of flight looks between the both of them suspiciously.

“My personal diary...? I just wanted Luhan to take a look.” Jongin blurts, the sleep still clouding his mind. Luhan reels around and bites on his lips at Jongin’s blatant lie. Even _he_ wouldn’t believe in Jongin’s words.

Yifan looks at him with a withering expression. “Who are you trying to kid, Jongin? I’m not stupid. I know that belongs to Junmyeon.” He deadpans. “So. Did you take that without his knowledge?”

“No!” They chorus together, and if that doesn’t give it all away, Yifan doesn’t know what does.

“Hand it over.” Yifan has gone around the coffee table and is standing right in front of them now, hand outstretched expectantly for the notebook. Jongin stares at his hand to his face and the scowl that is fast forming on Yifan’s face while Luhan tries to stare him down, failing miserably especially when it turns into a full out scowl.

“Fine.” Luhan finally concedes. “You can have the diary, but if you tell anyone about its contents, I’m going to make your life miserable. Like telling _everyone_ about the _things_ you think about Yixing. And how you imagine him without his sh-” Yifan grabs the book and scowls even harder at Luhan until Jongin shields the older boy’s eyes with his hand, blocking off Yifan’s judging stare at Luhan.

“Okay, we’re done here, got some schedules to go to and people to annoy,” Jongin tugs at Luhan’s hand to get him off the couch and shepherds him towards the front door.

“If you could, burn it after you’re done reading it. Please.” Luhan manages to say before he gets pushed out the door and Yifan can hear the underlying seriousness in his tone at that. Luhan _never_ says ‘please’ to Yifan, either.

Yifan stares at them both until they’re out the door and then deflates on the couch, eyeing Junmyeon’s book in his hand and wondering what exactly is so important about it that Luhan would threaten to spill his secrets – and then ask him to burn Junmyeon’s notebook.

He turns the first page and pales.

_Oh shit._

 

***

 

“So what you’re trying to say is that you _don’t want_ to be involved in this?” Youngmin asks scathingly, forgetting his paperwork for a moment as he glares at Sooman. He can’t believe what he’s hearing from the younger man, not at this stage of their plans. “Have you forgotten what we’re here for? Why we actually built this company in the beginning?”

“Stop trying to twist this into something else. All I’m trying to say is that we shouldn’t be being so harsh on them, not to the point of wanting to _kill them off_! Have _you_ forgotten why exactly it was that we want the Tree so badly? This is _not_ the kind of cost _children_ should be paying for and it’s getting out of hand!” Sooman isn’t cowed by the glaring ire in Youngmin’s tone

Youngmin slams the table in a fit of anger. “Then what have _we_ gone through, years ago? Shall I remind you that we were not much older than they were when we ended up here? Was our suffering then justified? We made a promise to the others, that we would get the Tree of Life _at all costs_ , even if it meant killing these brats for it.”

“I’m not saying it’s justified, but are you seriously thinking of taking their lives when they’re so close to making the headlines? Already there are speculations and rumours running all over the place and if you _want_ this to end without all of us having to end up abandoning this company and having to go to ground then _stop_ using all these harsh methods! If the others were here, it would _never_ have gotten this far and _you know it_! We’ve gotten so obsessed with wanting to get back that everything else is just collateral damage and they would never, _ever_ have agreed to it,” Sooman is truly angry now, but he hopes that by throwing it right into Youngmin’s face, it will get him to _back the fuck off_. Unfortunately, it seems like a lost cause.

The older man’s expression turns much colder than it was. “You know I hardly give a damn about this company, as long as I get what I want. Don’t you want the others to have their lives back? You know very well that the Tree of Life is completely capable of doing that; are _you_ willing to let this opportunity slip?”

“It’s all a myth, a part of our history books. _No one_ knows what would happen. If anything screws up along the way, we either end up dead, or remain stuck here for the rest of our lives.” Sooman doesn’t add in the huge possibility that they might not even be able to bring the others back to life, no matter that the Tree itself is named the Tree of Life. Youngmin is too close to the edge and Sooman doesn’t want to shove him off it into the abyss that he’s pretty sure is waiting.

“You don’t have _anyone_ that you might want to bring back desperately but _I do_ and you have _no idea, no fucking idea_ how long I’ve been waiting.” Youngmin hisses, fingers in claws and paying no heed that his paperwork is getting disfigured beyond belief.

Sooman avoids his piercing gaze, wondering who exactly it is that he’s been missing all this while, if that doesn’t count in Youngmin’s eyes. “If that’s what you want to think, so be it. You can see nothing beyond what’s in your mind, or what you want to believe in. _He’s_ going to be deathly disappointed in you, for all that he’s done to keep you alive until the very end.”

Youngmin’s gaze shuts off the very moment Sooman finishes his sentence.

“Get out of my office. You have no right to talk about him at all.”

Sooman doesn’t need to be told twice and he leaves Youngmin seething in his seat, king of his collapsing empire, unable to see the way that everything is already starting to crumble around his very ears.

 


	30. {29} this is what we've become

“You really are an idiot,” Yifan mutters as he walks past Junmyeon the very next day, and the Water Guardian doesn’t need to hazard a guess to know what the older boy is talking about. He smiles in response, the corner of his lips quirking up just a little wryly.

He shoots a glance in Minseok’s direction, who looks completely bewildered and confused and he mouths _I didn’t tell him_ back at Junmyeon, but Junmyeon only shakes his head, the amused smile still on his lips. At least he knows his friends are on his side, and he can rest easier with the knowledge that they’re playing along with him.

Junmyeon can’t say the same for Jongdae, though. The Thunder Guardian doesn’t appear to be anywhere close to even _wanting_ to spare a glance in his direction, much less speak to him.

It’s getting close to two weeks, the first time ever that they’ve gone so long without speaking and it is really, truly, one of the things that hurt the most. His smiles at Jongdae go unnoticed, attempts to pass him a bottle of water during practice ignored, and everything he does only serves to push Jongdae further and further away from him. But Junmyeon’s finally getting used to not having Jongdae clinging onto him, and he thinks he might be able to survive (barely) if ever the damage done to their relationship becomes permanent. Even if he doesn’t, he’s sure Jongdae will, and it’s all that really matters to him.

It’s worth it even though it hurts – so, _so_ much.

 

**

 

Kwangyeol pauses in his tracks when he walks into the meeting room, blood freezing at the chilling atmosphere. His glance alternates between Sooman and Youngmin, who are seated on opposite ends of the table, separated as far away from the other as possible. “Whoa, did something happen to the both of you? You’re practically murdering each other with your eyes.” He quips, sliding into the chair closest to Sooman. Out of the two, Sooman poses much less of a threat to his wellbeing than Youngmin.

Youngmin glares at him in response while Sooman greets him with a thin smile. “Maybe we should kill _you_ first before we turn on each other. It’ll be a nice warm up, I’m sure.”

He looks between the two of them warily. “If it’s all the same to you I think I’ll sit this out, thank you very much.”

“Back the fuck off from Kwangyeol.” Songhyun scowls at them. “Don’t get him involved in your childish feud. I can’t believe you guys are actually trying to murder each other because of a disagreement. I’d like to think our bond’s much stronger than this.”

“You’re not in a position to lecture us about being childish, Songhyun. Fuck off,” Sooman flips a finger at him, very much unlike his usual demeanour. Songhyun’s eyebrows rise high.

“Ooh, someone’s pissy today,” Jongmin sing-songs, completely oblivious to the tension in the room as he finds himself a seat next to Sooman. Both Kwangyeol and Songhyun slap a hand to their forehead, wishing Jongmin would just shut up already. Jisuk and Woojung eye all the men warily, wisely choosing not to get involved, but when the glaring goes on for more than five minutes without anything productive being said except for poisonous jibes, Woojung decides he has to step in.

“ _If_ you’re actually done sniping at each other, maybe we can get down to business? I do have a flight to catch to Beijing later, you know.” Youngmin’s snarl does nothing to deter Woojung’s gaze. “It’s a meeting you arranged yourself so I really _do_ have to get there – with all my body parts attached, hopefully,” He inches his chair away slightly, eyeing the other man’s clenched fists around his arm rests.

“I’ll be sure to make it short and simple then,” Youngmin’s voice is sharper and more irritated than it normally is, and if Woojung didn’t know better, he would think that Youngmin is teetering closer and closer to the edge of insanity the closer that they get to getting the Tree of Life in their hands.

“So what is it this time? Has Suho finally divulged the information on the Tree?” Jisuk pipes up hopefully, eager to hear the answer. They’ve all been hanging onto nothing for so long, that the slightest indication of returning to where they truly belong could effortlessly excite them.

Songhyun scoffs at the question and rolls his eyes. “Fat chance of that happening. He’s as clueless as we are that I’m beginning to think we might have made a mistake by approaching him. All that goes around in his mind is his endless bemoaning about how he’s not been able to make Chen talk to him after we kidnapped him last time. So much teenage angst, really, for all that he’s already twenty.”

“I did tell you we’d have a bigger chance of getting the information to the whereabouts of the Tree by getting Kai, didn’t I?” Woojung frowns and shoots a meaningful look in Jongmin’s direction. “At least we know the Seer would be more than willing to exchange the information to get his precious little kid back, instead of us having to go through a third party.”

“The rest of his members don’t seem to be on very friendly terms with him either, so I really wonder whether burning down their dorms and kidnapping Kim Jongdae was worth it all for just the shock value,” Sooman murmurs, ignoring the scathing glance that Youngmin and the others send his way as he pretends to not notice, drumming his fingertips on the surface of the conference table. Out of the seven of them, he had been the one to vote against burning down the trainees’ dorms, but had gone along with them regardless, because wasn’t that what it had always been like, even before now?

“Didn’t we come to a consensus that it’s supposed to serve as a warning that we’re not going to hold back on our future attacks?” Kwangyeol supplements thoughtfully, exchanging a look with Woojung for confirmation.

“At the expense of having to fork out our company’s budget for a brand new dorm for them, sure.” Sooman shrugs nonchalantly, not the least bit bothered by the disapproving glares from the rest of his colleagues. He’s used to them by now, being the only person who almost never agrees with every decision made by the majority. It seems to have only increased with time after he turned over the reins of the company to Youngmin. “The extra expenditure was uncalled for.”

“There isn’t a need to worry about expenditure when we have Songhyun hyung and his illusions.” Jisuk points out unhelpfully.

Youngmin cuts in impatiently at this point of time. “You should’ve considered the consequences when you allowed me to take over the company, Sooman. Isn’t it a little too late to regret anything now?”

“Maybe, but I think I’m still entitled to have a say in the way you run it,” _especially since you seem to be ruining it,_ Sooman adds silently to himself, in that space in his mind where Songhyun doesn’t have access to.

“I certainly think that I’m doing a _much_ better job at running it,” Youngmin snarls and Woojung has to step in again, exasperated this time because they really _are_ starting to waste his time.

“Can we _please_ get back to the situation at hand? You said you would make it short,” He addresses Youngmin, hoping that he’ll be able to get out of the room as quickly as possible once he gets the information he needs. Jisuk quietly nods in agreement, while Kwangyeol, Songhyun, and Jongmin look on amused, because the tension between Sooman and Youngmin is probably one of the more exciting things that they’ve seen in years.

(It might also be because they’ve been around much longer than any normal human would.)

“Let’s just say that it boils down to this: the minute we get the location of the Tree of Life from Kim Junmyeon, all bets are off. We attack and get the Tree, no matter what the cost.”

“Even at the expense of their lives?” Kwangyeol muses, his eyes brightening up at the prospect. There is a manic gleam in his eyes, one that sends a cold shudder down Sooman’s back. In retrospect, Sooman thinks he should have anticipated this – that he’s bound to go against his brothers in the end to protect his own values and what he stood for – still stands for, even if they have forgotten.

It hurts him to have to come to this, but it must be done.

And though Sooman already knows Youngmin’s plans, it doesn’t stop him from feeling the despair when Youngmin confirms Kwangyeol’s question. “Yes, even at the expense of their lives.”

“Let me just ask you this: are you going to just blind everyone with Songhyun’s illusions if all twelve of them die? How are you going to explain it to their parents, to the fans that some of them already have?” Sooman points out

Youngmin smirks in response. “If it boils down to that in the end, then so be it.”

When Sooman looks around the table at each of them, his heart sinks, especially when he sees the bloodthirsty look in Youngmin’s eyes, and then he _knows_ for sure.

There’s nothing worth saving here anymore.

 

**

 

Baekhyun cautiously peeks into the room shared between Jongdae and Yixing, hoping that the Thunder Guardian is around. The relationship between the guardians is so tense that it’s beginning to suffocate Baekhyun, and since neither Junmyeon nor Jongdae appear to be any closer to solving it themselves, Baekhyun decides that it’s time for some crisis intervention on his part.

Jongdae is sitting right there at his desk, frowning at the Mandarin textbook in his hands. His complexion actually looks sallow and his cheekbones look more prominent lately, as though he’s just skin pulled over bones even though he still eats his huge share of food, but there’s a dull look in his eyes ever since he and Junmyeon stopped talking. It’s a bit like seeing a different person in Jongdae’s skin because he’s so withdrawn, a complete contrast to the utter troll that Baekhyun had first seen when he had first arrived and seeing Junmyeon and Jongdae apart like this – it just doesn’t sit right with Baekhyun.

Jongdae doesn’t even notice him entering, and jumps in his seat when Baekhyun calls his name. It takes him a moment to calm himself down, but he doesn’t growl at the older guardian like he usually does, only resorting to scrubbing his face tiredly.

“Anything I can help you with, Baekhyun?” Every day feels too long especially with the way that he’s deliberately ignoring Junmyeon, repelling the Water Guardian’s efforts at every turn because he still can’t take the fact that Junmyeon would betray their brothers because of him, even when he had specifically begged the older boy not to give a damn about him.

“We need to talk. _Please_ ,” Baekhyun begs, and when the colour drains from Jongdae’s face, he immediately steps in between Jongdae and the door, effectively blocking his escape route.

Jongdae sighs. “Why are you guys so adamant with this? _I don’t want to talk about it._ ”

“I think we’ve given you both enough space, but really, enough is _enough_ , especially when the rest of us can see how it’s eating the both of you up inside. Junmyeon hyung is _miserable_ , and I don’t know exactly what happened but if you don’t even bother to talk this out, are you really just going to let your relationship with him end like this? After you’ve been together for so long? Ever since EXO Planet and when you’ve just found each other recently? Not to mention the fact that you guys are well, practically married in every sense anyway.”

“I would much appreciate it if you – and everyone else for that matter – just _stay out of this_ ,” Jongdae says, lips drawn into a thin line even though he knows that everything Baekhyun has said makes sense completely.

“No, I refuse to _stay out of this_ , because are you seriously letting our _enemies_ win because of this? They _want_ us to be separated, they _want_ to splinter us, and you know what, from the looks of it, you just seem to be helping them along,” Baekhyun throws his hands up in the air in exasperation at Jongdae’s stubbornness.

He’s taken by surprise when Jongdae fists his sweater and pushes Baekhyun right up against the wall, breathing heavily down Baekhyun’s neck. It isn’t like Jongdae to make such a show of his aggression, and Baekhyun knows he’s touched a nerve in Jongdae. “Don’t make such comments when you don’t have a fucking clue about what’s going on. _You don’t have a right._ ”

“Yes, but that’s only because you and Junmyeon hyung _refuse to tell us!_ ”

“We would’ve told you _if we could_.” Jongdae seethes, his grip on Baekhyun’s shirt tightening. “Stay out of our private business.”

“Guys, what’s going on in here?” Chanyeol pops his head in, unruly hair getting into his eyes and because he heard the raised voices upon entering the dorm with Yifan. “Is everything alright?” He tenses up when he sees Jongdae practically manhandling Baekhyun, and storms into the room to pry the Thunder Guardian away from Baekhyun. “Get the fuck off Baekhyun, Jongdae! What the hell are you trying to do?”

“Not really, because Jongdae refuses to _make_ it right,” Baekhyun snaps, clearly frustrated now, although his fingers are gentle against Chanyeol’s hands that are patting down his shoulders, as if checking him for any injuries.

“So this is how you guys want to play it, huh? By ganging up against me?” Jongdae snorts. “Don’t even think about having me tell you everything by doing this because _I won’t_.”

Yifan steps in then, more worried that they’ll end up trading blows when Chanyeol takes a step forward and opens his mouth to say something, but the older guardian cuts him off.

“That’s enough, all of you. Let Jongdae and Junmyeon figure this out on their own. Come on, it’s time for dinner soon and Kyungsoo is waiting for us in the other dorm. I’ll join you in a bit.” He pushes Chanyeol and Baekhyun out the door and waits until their voices have faded and the front door has both opened and closed before he turns to Jongdae and looks at him seriously.

“Hyung, are you going to ask me to fix things with Junmyeon hyung too? Because like what I told Baekhyun, this issue is ours to deal with and you guys can’t really help us with anything.”

Jongdae thinks he already knows what’s going to come out of Yifan’s mouth and he’s just tired of having to tell all of them to butt out of their business, because it just hammers home the point each time that he’s _not_ even talking to Junmyeon at all, let alone anything else and he just really, really longs to go back to the time where he could practically be the koala to Junmyeon’s eucalyptus tree by clinging onto him whenever he wanted to.

“That’s not it, actually. I won’t tell you to fix it, even though I want to, because you’re right, it’s yours and Junmyeon’s issue to handle. What I wanted to tell you was this, though.”

“Have more faith in Junmyeon. You know him better than you think you do, deep down inside. Think about that. Really think about it.” With that mysterious comment that leaves Jongdae thinking, Yifan leaves the room.

Jongdae mulls over the guardian of flight’s words for a moment, but when he can’t figure out what Yifan’s trying to tell him, he hurls the Mandarin language book he was reading earlier across the room in frustration, and throws himself onto the bed, trying to force himself to go to sleep so that he won’t have to deal with such things any longer, if only for a little while.

 


	31. {30} revelations

Luhan exchanges a look of wonder with Jongin when they approach a locked room tucked away in a secluded corner of the company, the knowing grin spreading on both of their faces when their thoughts fall in sync. It had taken them ages to pinpoint it, but there’s no mistaking the familiar thrum that runs through their veins, and it’s like they’ve been transported back to EXO Planet, remembering the time when they had first been shown the Tree of Life by the priests during their training, that sense of amazement washing over them as if seeing it for the very first time all over again.

“We’ve found it,” Jongin breathes, as though not believing his own words. He’s in a complete daze, too caught up in the long-missed sensation of having the Tree’s presence near him, feeling as though he’s in a dream. Beside him, Luhan nods distractedly, his pupils dilated in excitement and joy.

“It’s a lot smaller than the Tree that we’re used to protecting, but it’s actually growing, thriving here on Earth. I was so worried that it wouldn’t,” the Seer smiles, heart eased that they actually managed to bring parts of the Tree over from EXO Planet, even though they were a decade or two slower in discovering it than they had initially intended. To have it surviving after all these years, though, gives him immense relief. They’d have failed in their duties if it hadn’t.

“I’m actually surprised that the upper management did not notice it thriving here, though. They’ve had decades ahead of us to locate it.” The shadow walker says quietly. He presses a hand on the door, smile growing wider when the throbbing sensation grows stronger beneath the pads of his fingers, as if responding positively to his mere presence.

“You know, this might sound strange but... maybe the Tree didn’t want them to find it. Maybe it was waiting for us to find it all along. That might be exactly why they knew that they had to find a way to get the location from _us_ instead.” Luhan muses aloud.

Jongin nods in agreement. “That’s actually plausible. I mean, we _were_ the ones who were charged with guarding it after all. But what are we going to do, now that we’ve found it? We can’t possibly bring it back to the dorms with us; not when there’s someone who has the same ability as I do on their side.” He purses his lips in contemplation, and heaves a burdened sigh. “And then there’s the situation with Junmyeon hyung.”

“Yeah, we can’t possibly burden him further by bringing the Tree back with us; even if we try to hide it, the rest of them will be able to feel its presence near them. It’s going to be difficult for him to keep his mind off the fact that the Tree is in the dorms.” Luhan purses his lips, then looks at Jongin brightly. “Remember what we agreed upon some time ago?”

“That we’ll keep this information between only the both of us? Yeah.”

Luhan smiles. “Do you trust me on this?”

Jongin grins slightly. “You know that I might not like it when we keep things from the others, but I understand why you choose to do so. Of course I do, hyung.”

The Seer holds out his hand this time, and Jongin instinctively laces their fingers together. “Let’s go, then.”

And they disappear from the corridor into the room, where their destiny awaits them.

 

**

 

Kyungsoo blinks belatedly as one of the younger trainees come up to him because he isn’t sure he heard that correctly. Surely this is a joke of sorts they’re trying to play on him, just to watch how he’s going to react to it and then laugh at him later?

“Hyung, Lee Sooman-sonsaengnim asked you to see him in his office.” The trainee says, bowing once and then leaving the room. Junmyeon turns sharply to stare at him then, face pale as he wipes his face with a towel.

“What’s that about?” He asks cautiously, eyes narrowed in Kyungsoo’s direction. Kyungsoo blinks another time, and slowly shakes his head.

“I... don’t know? Why would he want to see me, anyway?” He’s never been called by Lee Sooman before, let alone out of the blue, but now he’s wondering whether it’s actually more to do with them being _guardians_ , or whether it’s about seeing him personally in terms of vocals. Junmyeon and Kris have always been the ones who get called more regularly, and although all twelve of them know that he’s part of the group that Kwangyeol and Songhyun are involved in, somehow Sooman has never been anything but cordial and has never called them out on anything related to them being guardians (the only exception being when Jongdae was kidnapped).

Jongin joins them then, a frown on his face. It’s obvious that he doesn’t feel good about the whole situation, and Kyungsoo doesn’t blame him. He’s trying hard not to fidget himself. “I wonder what he wants with you. It’s rare for them to seek any one of us out so openly. I’m sure they know that _we know something_ about their little group.”

His eyes meet Junmyeon’s over Kyungsoo’s head, something that doesn’t escape the second oldest boy in the room’s notice, and he frowns at both of them.

“Would you _stop_ that already? All of us have already been tip-toeing around Junmyeon hyung and Jongdae, and then when you and Luhan hyung seem as if you know something that we don’t, it just gets all the more infuriating.” Kyungsoo huffs in annoyance, and Jongin at least as the grace to look guilty, while Junmyeon smiles self-deprecatingly.

“It’s nothing important for you to know about, Kyungsoo. Don’t worry, I understand if you guys want to take sides,” Junmyeon says.

The unintentional hurtful comment _hurts,_ because it isn’t like Junmyeon at all to say things like that, but the more time he and Jongdae spend apart, the worse it gets, as if he needs Jongdae around to keep him cheerful and _nice_ and perhaps _sane_ , even.

“You know that’s not it, hyung.” He swipes at his face with the towel slung around his neck and then folds it neatly before stuffing it into his backpack and zipping it up without a word to either of them.

It isn’t lost on him that neither of them try to stop him from leaving.

It’s why he completely misses the look that Junmyeon gives Jongin where his eyes are saying _this is a really bad idea._

 

**

 

It’s after the day’s practising schedules have ended that Kyungsoo finds himself standing outside Lee Sooman’s office. He doesn’t even realise that his feet had brought him here on their own accord, but he supposes it’s because of the subconscious desire to find out _what_ actually happened on the day Jongdae was kidnapped by Songhyun and his group that he’s here. Junmyeon and Jongdae (even Jongin and Luhan, maybe) are being deathly secretive about it, and Kyungsoo doesn’t like it at all. It makes him feel as though their friendship stood for nothing, even after all these years, because _friends_ aren’t supposed to keep secrets from each other. Especially not about things that are this important.

He hesitates, left hand brought up to knock on the mahogany door with the large name plate on it hovering uncertainly for a split second, before he swallows his trepidation and firmly raps on it. He can see a light through the slit between the door and carpet, so Lee Sooman must still be inside the office, even though most of his subordinates are long gone by now. Even after he’s ceded over most of the power of running the company to Kim Youngmin, he’s still often seen inside the confines of his office way after normal working hours are over.

“Why Kyungsoo, I’ve been expecting you. Please, come in.” Lee Sooman greets him moments later, with a broad grin that reminds Kyungsoo of his own father. He shudders at the thought.

“I-” Kyungsoo starts, then bites on his lower lip in hesitation. Everything about this situation is making him feel uncomfortable, and the thought that he might be betraying his friends by coming here without informing them gnaws at him. “This isn’t going to take long, is it? They’re expecting me to be home soon and-”

“Don’t worry, this won’t take long at all,” The former CEO of the agency gestures for him to take a seat in one of the guest chairs he has and sits in the one adjacent to it. Kyungsoo reluctantly puts his bag on the floor and takes a seat in the sofa, just enough so that it looks polite, but not to the point where he’s sinking right into it (even though it’s pretty comfy - he knows he needs to be able to make a quick getaway just in case the worst happens).

“I’m sorry if I sound rude, but... may I know why did you call me here for? I haven’t done something out of line, have I?” Kyungsoo speaks up almost immediately, eyes widening almost comically in a deliberate act. He knows that acting clueless is the key to his survival, and Kyungsoo is determined to stick with it till the very end.

“Ah no, no, that’s got nothing to do with it at all.” Kyungsoo is wary all at once as he shifts in his seat. It solidifies even further with the next sentence out of Sooman’s mouth.

“It’s actually related to your powers. What if I told you that I had the _exact_ same powers as you do?”

Kyungsoo’s face goes carefully blank at his statement, even though he’s panicking inside.

“I’m sorry sir, but I don’t have the slightest idea what you’re talking about.” He deadpans.

Much to his surprise, Sooman actually _laughs_ at his words, amused instead of mocking. “I don’t know whether you kids are really naïve, or whether you’re trying to feign ignorance. I’m sure you know we’re trying to get the Tree of Life, so why don’t we stop playing games right now, Do Kyungsoo?”

So much for pretending that life was all fine and dandy, especially when the subject of the Tree of Life has been brought into the conversation. Kyungsoo gives up on trying to hide the fact that he’s the guardian with powers over earth.

“What do you mean by you having the exact same powers as I do? How am I supposed to believe in you?”

“Watch carefully.” Sooman intones, and walks over to the nearest flower pot. He places a hand on the soil, barely touching it and the clay pot cracks. Kyungsoo watches with wide eyes as the older man nonchalantly pushes away the broken pieces of the pot, and gapes when the earth _responds_ to Sooman, moving into his palm easily as if he’s coaxing it right into his hands effortlessly.

“Believe me now?” The man smiles at him again, while levitating a ball of soil in mid-air. It’s one of the earliest tricks Kyungsoo had picked up when he was training as a guardian, and one of his favourite pastimes to pelt these soil cannons at the others when he’s feeling mischievous. Kyungsoo nods wordlessly, utterly convinced now. There are a million questions that fall together in his mind but none of them seem to want to leave his throat or mouth properly, and a startled gurgle comes out instead. It makes Sooman laugh again. It sounds fatherly.

It feels wrong.

“There are a lot more things I wish I could tell you, but I can’t, so you’re going to have to settle with this for now.”

Kyungsoo gulps. What else could he possibly be hiding? “Do all of you have the same powers as we do?”

“Maybe,” Sooman says with an enigmatic smile and Kyungsoo wishes he could throw a clump of dirt at him right now because he is so _done_ with secrets. He didn’t come here for more.

“If you’re not telling me that much, then what do you want me here for? To threaten me into silence?” Kyungsoo’s really frustrated now, and he doesn’t want to be anywhere near Sooman, but he knows he can’t leave the office without risking his life, now that Lee Sooman’s being so straightforward with him. It’s obvious he wants Kyungsoo to know something, and he wants something in return.

“Well, I guess you might as well tell me exactly what you want right now since we’re being so forthcoming with each other about information.” Kyungsoo says snippily, irked beyond measure.

“What I want from you is very simple,” Sooman intones seriously, as he gestures for Kyungsoo to hold his palms out, letting the ball of soil and the poor plant be transferred into Kyungsoo’s hands when the young vocalist holds them out hesitantly.

“All of you need to train more seriously, more intensively, because make no mistake, there _will_ be a fight. It’s only a matter of _when_ that will happen, but from the looks of things, it might be sooner rather than later, and from the way that Kim Jongdae was so easily kidnapped without the slightest bit of resistance on his part, I think it would suffice to say that currently, _none of you_ will be able to match up to us if you have to go up against all of the people involved in this.”

“But. I’m offering _you_ the chance to change that.”

Kyungsoo licks his suddenly dry lips at the information, wondering just how wide the gap between their powers and Songhyun’s group is. Even though they have been training in secret, it was akin to the blind leading the blind; none of them knew what they were up against. But now, now there is a possibility of Kyungsoo finding out just how much harder they had to work to give them a decent chance at surviving this ordeal, and he’s tempted to accept the offer.

“Is this some sort of trap?” Kyungsoo hedges, because this is just too good to be true without Sooman actually asking for anything else in return other than for the rest of the boys to train harder at being guardians. Besides, why is Sooman even offering his assistance to his enemies?

“I know you might find it to believe, but right now, I’m actually working independently of Youngmin and Songhyun and the rest of my group. I’m only going to ask you of this once. After this, all bets are off and would you _really_ want to take the chance of saying no when I’m offering to give you tips on how to better control your powers when there’s a battle coming soon? Let me just sum it up for you in a few simple words, Kyungsoo. What is it that youngsters say these days? Ah, I think I have the right phrase for it – you’d be _creamed_.”

“Why are you even doing this?” Kyungsoo isn’t entirely convinced, but Sooman gives a pretty good argument and he’s hard pressed to say no to it.

Sooman smiles wistfully at the question. “How should I put this?” He sighs, as though remembering something long forgotten. “Let’s just say my friends have forgotten what we have stood for in the past. All that they’re doing – this isn’t right, but I’m a lone ranger now. I can’t do anything about it but watch as they lose themselves to the darkness. I just hope that you kids could remind them what it means to be a group, what it means to be _friends_. What it means to be _brothers_.”

His last statement hits too close to home and Kyungsoo is reminded of the conflict that is going on amongst his own members right now, and his decision is set in stone the moment he makes it.

“So when do we start training?” Kyungsoo asks, Sooman smiles at that, the straightforward, no nonsense tone that Kyungsoo has and _knows_ it’s the right course of action, no matter that Youngmin might actually flip a table at him when he eventually finds out.

“ _Right now._ ”

And Kyungsoo finds himself scrambling to dodge the first ball of soil being launched at him at full force.

 


	32. {31} thunderstorm imminent

“Kyungsoo hyung isn’t coming back tonight. For the rest of the week, actually,” Sehun says, waving his cell phone at Junmyeon, Luhan, and Jongin when they enter the apartment. It causes Junmyeon and Jongin to freeze in their steps, exchanging a cautious look with each other when they remembered about the trainee who came to deliver Lee Sooman’s message earlier that morning.

“Did he say why?” Luhan asks inquisitively, pretending he hadn’t read Jongin’s mind.

“It was a really short call, not even more than five minutes long actually? He just mentioned there were some issues at home that he had to take care of, and that he wouldn’t be back for a week. Oh, he’s already mentioned it to management as well, so he asked not to worry about that. He also said to train five hundred times harder, but I can’t decide whether he’s being serious or not,” Sehun answers as he slouches on the couch, fiddling with yet another mobile game on his phone. “There’s no kimchi spaghetti for a week,” the youngest boy pouts.

Yifan walks by then and rolls his eyes at Sehun. “Is that all you’re worrying about, Sehun? Wow, maknae, you really need some priorities.”

“Lay off Sehun, ge,” Zitao snaps at him from the kitchen. Yifan’s eyebrows rise and if only facial expressions aren’t governed by physics they might actually rise right off his face completely. He’s so used to the younger boy being a quiet bystander most of the time that the bite in his voice surprises Yifan a little.

“O... _kay_ , whatever you say, Taozi,” Yifan shrugs, half wondering when Zitao had started being so protective over Sehun, then turns to look at Jongin and Junmyeon who look like they’re absolutely constipated with worry. “So what’s this whole fuss about Kyungsoo not coming home about?”

“Sehun just told us that he’s not coming home for a week because of some issues at home. And that we need to train much harder than we’re doing now,” Jongin steps closer and looks at Yifan momentarily before chucking a ball of paper at Sehun. “Throw that away for me, will you?” He grins, and waits to hear the grumble from the youngest before he makes his way into the kitchen.

Once Sehun is gone, Jongin tells Yifan in a hushed voice. “Lee Sooman asked for Kyungsoo hyung to see him in his office today.” Yifan looks alarmed for a second before he schools his expression into his perpetual ‘bitch face’ as the boys call it. “He left after practice and we haven’t seen him since then. We’re hoping it’s not the same case as what happened with Jongdae hyung. And judging by what he’s told Sehun, I think he might’ve found out something else about their powers.”

“I’m sure Kyungsoo knows what he’s doing.” Yifan assures, knowing that they have to trust Kyungsoo on this. “And I think he knows that meeting Lee Sooman on his own, without telling anyone of us, isn’t the brightest action he can take.”

The corner of Junmyeon’s lips pull up into a sad smile. “If you’re talking about Kyungsoo from several months ago, maybe I can believe that, Yifan hyung. I’m not too sure how valid that statement is right now.”

“You know a lot of it is because he feels left out of the loop with concerns to... _everything_ that’s happening lately, right?” Yifan stares Junmyeon down until the Water Guardian’s gaze flicks elsewhere.

“It’s not like I can do anything about it,” Junmyeon mumbles miserably. “I’m not feeling any better than you are, you know.”

He doesn’t say that he could be feeling a lot worse than he actually shows. He thought he’d actually managed to convince himself that he could survive without Jongdae, but the truth is that he can’t keep lying to himself for much longer.

Yifan ruffles Junmyeon’s hair affectionately, flashing a smile at him. “I know, Junmyeon. I’m not putting the blame on you. Don’t be too hard on yourself or you’ll break.” The shorter boy smiles at him in gratitude, although he can’t hide the sadness in his smile.

_Maybe I’m already broken._ Junmyeon thinks to himself, and ignores the sympathetic look Luhan sends at him.

 

**

 

“Dodge!”

Kyungsoo scrambles to get out of the way of the oncoming wave of earth that surges towards him, not being nearly quick enough to avoid it from slamming into his shoulder with the force of a heap of bricks, and he winces hard when the pain sears from his arm.

“Damn it, old man, ease up a little on the power would you? Are you trying to train me, or are you trying to get me killed before this is even done?” Kyungsoo yells over the sound of the earth splitting in half, sending an earthquake at Lee Sooman in retaliation. He groans when Lee Sooman easily dodges it, and manages to put up a wall of hard packed earth this time, which is a lot more than can be said for Kyungsoo’s earth walls; they crack easily and only stand for less than five minutes before crumbling against Sooman’s powers.

“If you can’t even withstand this, then you can forget about trying to fight against the rest of them because believe it or not, I’m actually going _easy_ on you,” Sooman looks so casual, barely breaking a sweat and he hasn’t even bothered to change out of his _suit_ , as if throwing waves of earth around at poor unsuspecting trainees is a common enough occurrence that takes absolutely no effort at all.

Kyungsoo practically gawks at him. “Are you kidding me?”

Sooman doesn’t even bat an eyelash. “Do you want to try it in full force?” He asks, but doesn’t wait for an answer when he actually puts his words into action. Kyungsoo stares, eyes wide and jaw dropped somewhere far down to his knees when the earth rises in a platform right under the former CEO’s feet until its shadow towers and is much, much taller than Kyungsoo.

The look on Sooman’s face can only be described as _wicked_.

(Kyungsoo’s matching expression is the living embodiment of _dumbfounded_ and varying degrees of _I’m so fucked_.)

“ _Shall we?_ It’d be wise for you to run right about... now.” For once, Kyungsoo obeys without a word of protest, especially when chunks of rocks start raining down upon him out of nowhere. He vaguely thinks it’s a good thing Sooman suggested that they trained far away from the company at an open space, because at any rate, Kyungsoo doesn’t think the SM Entertainment building would be able to withstand half the amount of destruction being thrown around.

“Think about how you’d want to block these attacks, Kyungsoo, and think fast. On the battlefield, time isn’t on your side. I’m sure the battle priests have taught you that back on EXO Planet.”

“It’s easy for you to say!” Kyungsoo huffs in a panic, trying to wrack his brains for something that’s durable enough to keep him out of the pelting range of the stones raining down on him. “We don’t exactly have people hurling rocks at us on an everyday basis so that we can learn to dodge properly!”

Sooman grins and it makes Kyungsoo pale because that doesn’t look like a good sign _at all_.

“Well then. I’ll just have to help you get better at that then now, won’t I? You’d better learn fast if you don’t want to end up getting flattened like a pancake!” Kyungsoo gapes because there’s suddenly a huge slab of stone coming out of nowhere and it doesn’t look like there’s anything that would withstand the onslaught of it.

“ _Fuck my life!_ ” He swears before hurriedly erecting a stone shelter that he hopes against hope will hold up and that he won’t be crushed by it while training to become even better at wielding his power, because that would just be plain _embarrassing_ and even his ghost will never be able to live it down. There’s a loud screech and the sound of stone scraping against stone and sweat rolling down his face but to his surprise, he’s alive by the end of it all, and Sooman _actually_ looks a little impressed by that fact.

“Not bad,” Sooman hums his appreciation. “Looks like you need to be pushed to your limits to actually be able to construct something to save your own ass. Are you ready for something more extreme?”

Kyungsoo almost looks like he’s going to faint, because _that wasn’t extreme enough?!_

“Oh God, save me.” He gets no warning before another huge slab of rock is looming above his head again and he barely manages to scramble out of his impromptu shelter before it crashes down again.

It’s going to be a _very_ long week.

 

**

 

Yixing stares wide-eyed at the neon lights around him, wondering where on earth he’s at. Out of sheer bad luck (and a bit of inattention on his part), he was separated from SHINee on the streets, where they were wandering around shopping for souvenirs in preparation to return home. He thinks he should give one of the SHINee members or their managers a call, but then he remembers how his phone is out of service after dropping it into the pond a couple of weeks ago.

His Japanese is pretty horrendous too, and he vaguely wonders how some of the older members from his agency can actually go wandering around by themselves.

Yixing dejectedly plants himself on a nearby bench and glances up at the darkened sky, debating with himself if he should actually risk contacting Yifan now. It’s been a long while since he had last spoken to Yifan, and he wonders if he’s doing well. He wonders about the rest of the guardians and if they’re doing fine and goofing off just like usual, and he realises he misses his friends a lot more than he thought.

At least Jonghyun hyung’s leg seems to be getting a lot better, so he hopes he’ll be able to go back to Korea soon. Japan is great and everything, but he always feels a little bit lost there, especially when Yifan isn’t around.

Maybe he could even ask Yifan for directions on Google Maps or something. At least then he might be able to make his way back to the hotel. But in the end, Yixing decides that he’ll find his own way. He’s done enough to worry Yifan to last him a lifetime.

(He’s lucky enough to find an old man who speaks Mandarin whom gives him directions back to the hotel – it turns out he’s been walking in the completely opposite direction this whole time.)

 

**

 

“Are you out of your fucking mind?!” Youngmin all but snarls into the phone, and Sooman holds the receiver away from his ears, expressions indifferent. He’d expected this to happen eventually; nothing can escape Youngmin’s knowledge after all. He’d be more surprised if he did not receive this call.

“I could say the same about you, Youngmin,” Sooman deadpans into the phone when the screaming and yelling finally stops, not caring if he’d just missed half of Youngmin’s tirade against him. It isn’t as though it actually mattered to him, now that they’re at odds and barely stopping short of actually ripping the other person into pieces. “We’re all a little crazy deep down, don’t you think?”

He hears a noisy exhale on the other side of the line, followed closely by the sound of a vase crashing into pieces, and knows at once that Youngmin’s pissed beyond belief. He’s no longer surprised that it takes so little to rile Youngmin up so much. Youngmin’s never been the better one at controlling his temper anyway.

It has just gotten progressively worse. A _lot_ worse.

“ _What_ do you think you’re doing, Soo? Why the fuck are you training that snotty-nosed brat to gain better control of his powers?”

“I’d watch what you’re saying if I were you,” Sooman fairly snarls at Youngmin for the comment, then leans into his seat, a smug curl to the edge of his lips even though Youngmin can’t see him. “Besides, isn’t this what you and everyone else, wanted? An opponent who’s actually worthy of you to go up against? I’m merely playing along with your plans, Youngmin.”

“Is _that_ what you’re calling it? Because it looks a lot more like _betrayal_ to me,” Youngmin all but hisses on the line.

Sooman chuckles at the accusation. “Betrayal? You’re not one to talk about _betrayal_ , Youngmin. _I’m_ not the one who’s going against everything we ever stood for.”

“ _I’m_ not the one who’s going against everything _he_ ever stood for,” Sooman continues, and he knows it’s a low blow, but even now he’s hoping that he can make his point obvious enough so that Youngmin might actually reconsider attacking the young guardians.

There is a long silence on the line, and Sooman wonders what Youngmin is contemplating, but he doesn’t have to wait for long.

“You have five days. I don’t expect to see you when we take them down,” Youngmin seethes and then all Sooman is listening to is the flat silence of an ended call.

He sighs heavily, feeling the weight of the world all over again as he drops his phone into his lap. He hadn’t expected Youngmin to still stick to his original plans, and he wonders whether all he’s done is to push the young boys through a faster path to hell, or whether he had actually helped them out as he had originally intended to.

At the very least, _he_ knows that he’s tried. He looks tiredly at the photo frame on his shelf, of twelve boys smiling, of happier times from a long, long time ago – of how now they no longer have their full number, and he looks at two faces, three faces in particular.

He thinks those are the smiles that shine the brightest in that photograph.

“I’m only sorry I can’t stop him,” Sooman mutters in regret. “But I hope you’ll give me strength to help those kids the best I can. I don’t think I can picture them in the same condition as us, when their bonds are much stronger.”

“I’m just so, so tired. Can you forgive me when I join all of you on the other side soon enough?”

There’s no way a photograph can answer him, but when he imagines their laughter and warmth, it’s just enough.

It’ll have to be enough.

 


	33. {32} when darkness looms

The day Kyungsoo stumbles back into the dorms, bruised and dusty but very much alive, is the day the panic truly spreads itself amongst the guardians. Zitao squawks, barely managing to catch Kyungsoo when the front door suddenly opens before he can reach the doorknob and Kyungsoo falls right in.

“Hyung! You’re back! What happened?! Are you alright?” The rest of the boys currently in the dorm (minus Yifan who is still sleeping away in the other dorm) – Minseok, Jongdae, Sehun, Baekhyun, and Chanyeol crowd around him worriedly.

“I think I’ve just been to hell and back,” Kyungsoo mumbles tiredly, looking every bit as though he’s going to pass out soon. And, true to his words, he’s completely dishevelled and visibly harassed, as though he’s been through one hell of an adventure – or misadventure, depending on how one would define it. “Freaking old man doesn’t know how to hold back.”

“What are you talking about, Soo?” Minseok’s at his side now, furiously wiping Kyungsoo down with a wet towel to keep him awake. The younger boy bats him away tiredly and grabs the towel instead because it feels like Minseok is trying to wipe his _skin_ off completely. Must be all the dirt stains. “Where have you _been_?”

“Hell.” Kyungsoo says in earnest, and Minseok swears that if he repeats that again he’s really going to freeze Kyungsoo to death and give him a one-way ticket to that godforsaken place.

Kyungsoo pretends he hadn’t heard that, and looks around in search for someone else instead. “Where’s Luhan hyung, Junmyeon hyung, and Jongin?”

“Probably back at the agency, they left really early in the morning and haven’t been back since,” Chanyeol answers as he combs his fingers through his hair, Baekhyun peeking around his arm. “What’s the rush?”

The Earth Guardian tries to prop himself up on the ground, but winces at the soreness in his muscles and gives up in the end, falling flat on his back again seconds later. “I need them to be here before I can tell you guys what happened. This is important; there isn’t much time left for us.”

Minseok sits back on his heels and stares at him, brows knitted together. “What on earth are you talking about? You just got back home. Did you knock your head on the sidewalk or something because you’re really not making any sense right now, Kyungsoo.”

“If you count ‘sidewalk’ as ‘almost getting crushed by a huge slab of rock’, does that qualify?” Kyungsoo asks hopefully. The rest of them stare at him incredulously, as though he’s lost his mind. He deflates.

“The mind channels are there for a reason, Kyungsoo,” Luhan deadpans from wherever he is, probably having heard their whole exchange. “What’s going on?”

“Oh. Yeah.” Kyungsoo manages articulately. Battling it out with a – crazy, sadistic, almost too trigger-happy – madman called Lee Sooman who likes to throw huge slabs of rock at him, with only an average of three to four hours of sleep in between for the past week (and he’s not even counting that time when he woke up with a _flat piece of stone_ being his blanket – the old man has a very strange sense of humour after all) – means that he’s not completely coherent. He doesn’t think his brain is completely capable of functioning, either.  

“Just. There’s a battle coming soon. Come back already, I need to tell you guys stuff; our mind channels might get infiltrated even as we speak.” He can feel both the mental and physical way everyone’s backs seem to stiffen with his blank announcement (even Yifan is awake and listening blearily now).

It doesn’t take long before Jongin appears with Luhan and Junmyeon in tow – the rest of the members pretend Jongdae’s back hadn’t stiffened significantly in response to the close proximity between him and the water guardian – with serious expressions on their faces, eager to find out what Kyungsoo has in store for them after his week-long disappearing act.

“You went in search of Lee Sooman, didn’t you?” Junmyeon looks at him seriously. “ _Kyungsoo-_ ”

He gets cut off when Kyungsoo raises a hand at him. “I don’t need _you_ , of all people, to lecture me on what should have or should not have been done, Junmyeon hyung. Not when _you’re_ the one keeping secrets.” He glares at him angrily.

“Hyung! Now is _not_ the time for us to be sniping at each other.” Kyungsoo is only slightly surprised when Jongin steps in to defend Junmyeon before the older boy can even open his mouth. He doesn’t miss the way that Jongdae’s hand has clenched into a fist where the Thunder Guardian is sitting on the armrest of the sofa either.

Okay, so he feels a little bit guilty about that comment. Junmyeon doesn’t deserve that kind of treatment from him.

“Sorry, Junmyeon hyung, that didn’t come out right,” he breathes. “Just. I did go to Lee Sooman that day, and he. He told me he has the same powers as I do.”

There’s a sharp hiss from Zitao, and Sehun nearly chokes on the spoon of yoghurt he has in his mouth from Zitao’s sudden outburst. The guardian of time has to slap his back hard twice and Sehun nods in thanks before paying attention to the serious situation that’s going on. Baekhyun and Chanyeol stare in horror at the revelation.

Yifan, who has now joined them in the dorm, raises an eyebrow at Kyungsoo from his position against the door frame. “That makes two of you.” His gaze pans uncertainly from Jongin to Kyungsoo and back. “What about the rest of them, then?”

Kyungsoo shakes his head, still seated on the floor, fingers flexing around the towel in his hand.

“He didn’t tell me anything about how many of them there were in total, or what kind of powers the rest of them had, but all he mentioned was that a line has been crossed, and that we needed to train harder if we even want to survive against them.”

Baekhyun gulps at that. “So... you’ve had a first-hand experience of Lee Sooman’s abilities. How would you rate our chances?”

Kyungsoo lets his eyes look at each of them in turn, holding his gaze steady. None of them flinch away, just looking on worried, but determined.

There is a steely look when he meets Junmyeon’s eyes that is almost identical to the one in Jongdae’s. It looks as if the two of them at the very least are determined to make the higher ups pay for what they’ve done. Even if they’re apart they really do still complement each other really well.

(If they survive this, he hopes that both of them would eventually get back together, into that easy relationship that they had where sometimes they didn’t even need words to understand what the other was saying. It’s obvious that they need each other even when they’re apart; the strain is visible on their faces.)

“Did you take my advice seriously when I told Sehun that all of you needed to train five hundred times harder?”

“Uh.” Chanyeol side-eyes Jongin, who glances back with the same magnitude of uncertainty. “Maybe? We don’t exactly know how much more we had to work for.”

There’s a sudden movement from Kyungsoo, and a snarl from Luhan that had everyone glancing between the two. That is when they realise there’s a piece of rock floating in mid-air, stopped in place by the Seer. It was dangerously close to Luhan’s face, and Kyungsoo would have made a scratch on Luhan’s skin if the Seer hadn’t reacted in time. No one even noticed that Kyungsoo had pulled such a move out of the blue.

“Are you fucking out of your mind?!” Jongin snaps at Kyungsoo, trying to make his way past Minseok and Chanyeol to the wide-eyed boy to get his hands on Kyungsoo for trying to hurt Luhan, but Junmyeon holds him in place. Jongin only looks at Junmyeon in confusion and frustration, but backs down when he notices the change in expressions on Kyungsoo’s face.

“This is _nothing_ compared to the attacks Lee Sooman has thrown at me in the past week. He’s expecting us to be able to handle surprise attacks, _much worse_ than what I’m showing you now.” Kyungsoo says seriously. “And guess what? We’re talking about the _nice_ one who even bothered to train me and still held back regardless. The rest... I think you can make your own inferences from that.”

“Well, aren’t we just thoroughly fucked?” Yifan comments humourlessly.

“That’s not all, hyung. We have five days left before they launch an attack. Kim Youngmin found out that Lee Sooman was training me on the last day of my training. It’s a miracle that he even gave Sooman any warning at all, so let’s make use of the limited time we have.”

“You can’t be serious.” Luhan stares at him.

Kyungsoo sighs and falls flat on the floor, lying back on the cool tiles. “I wish I wasn’t.” But before Kyungsoo can even make himself comfortable on the floor (he can’t be bothered with a bed, especially after spending the past week lying on stones), Jongdae’s already tugging him up.

“We can’t let them win this without putting up a decent fight,” the Thunder Guardian says resolutely, eyeing his friends but skips over Junmyeon. Kyungsoo groans and whines as he kicks at the floor ineffectively.

“Jongdae hyung, can I at least sleep for half an hour before we go train? I’m so tired I just want to crawl somewhere and sleep.” He gives them his best puppy dog eye look and Minseok looks sympathetic at least, but Jongdae is frowning and adamant.

“But if you’re not there, who else is going to supervise us? You’re the one who knows _exactly_ what we’re up against,” Jongdae protests, looking to his left when Yifan places a hand on his arm and squeezes it lightly.

“Let him sleep. We can spare half an hour. I don’t want Kyungsoo fainting on us in the middle of it.”

Jongdae purses his lips but nods nonetheless, letting go of Kyungsoo’s arm and the younger boy sighs happily.

“Thanks, Yifan hyung, you’re the best,” Kyungsoo practically crawls to the side of the sofa and leans against it, and within seconds his eyes are closed and he’s deep asleep, the other boys watching him in amusement.

“He really wasn’t kidding about being dead tired,” Junmyeon muses, grabbing the throw nearby and covering the snoozing boy with it.

“I think the rest of us need to pack our essentials and stuff that we’ll need for the next five days in the meantime,” Luhan says seriously. “Wherever it is that we need to train I think we can expect that we’ll have to stay there for a full five days, because from what Kyungsoo says, we need to really work ourselves to the bone for this if we want any chance of coming out of this alive – without Yixing around, no less.”

“Devil’s training all over again, huh.” Sehun mumbles, but picks himself up from the ground and drags Zitao along with him to make the necessary preparations. “I guess we better get going, then.”

“Maybe there’s a way I could actually prolong the time we have to train though,” Zitao points out, and Sehun and the others turn to stare at him. He wiggles his fingers at them with a grin. “Guardian of time, remember? At least I could try slowing down the way time passes around us, or accelerate the rate at which we train so we might actually be able to maximise the amount of time given to us, pack in more training and field experience.”

Luhan beams at Zitao for the suggestion. None of them had thought about using the guardian of time’s powers to their advantage until Zitao had pointed it out. “That, Zitao, is an ingenious idea.”

Yifan frowns at that. “That’s a good idea, but don’t take on too much by yourself, Zitao. If the strain gets too much, you’d better stop straight away and let any of us know, otherwise you’ll be drained even before we fight them. Maybe you can start off slow at first, just to see how much you can exert while still doing combat, so at least we’d be able to get a grasp on how much power you would need to focus on stopping time, and how long it would last for.”

Zitao makes a noise of protest. “But if I can’t do that much, to control time while putting up a decent fight against those people in the higher management, then what use am I to the team? We don’t know if they have someone who controls time like I do on their side, or whether that person can control time _and_ do something else while he’s at it, ge. I _have_ to push myself to do this.”

The tallest guardian gives him that _look_ which would make anyone outside their circle of friends one to curl up into a ball and die because it’s so fierce. “Pushing yourself is one thing but if you’re _not_ at full strength before we even begin, how long do you think it would take before you get worn down and get knocked out because you’re too tired and unable to react as quickly as you normally do?”

“Yifan hyung is right, Tao.” Sehun interjects quietly when Zitao tries to open his mouth to debate the issue, looking away when Zitao shoots him a withering look for not standing on his side. “We’re a team for a reason; we’re meant to back each other up and cover our weaknesses with another person’s strength. You shouldn’t strain yourself too much.”

“Fine,” Zitao agrees with a resigned sigh because he knows that they’re right. “I’ll only use eighty percent of my power on stopping time then.” Yifan stares at him hard, and it doesn’t help when Junmyeon and Minseok give him the same flinty looks that their eyes get when they’re dead serious about something. “Okay, seventy, then.” Jongin raises a disapproving eyebrow at him and it’s _bad_ when the second youngest gives him that look.

“...sixty?” Zitao tries to bargain some more but it looks like a losing bet when Luhan shakes his head and mouths ‘twenty’ behind Jongdae’s shoulder.

“Fine, I’ll just use twenty percent then.” Zitao sulks finally and it’s ridiculous that they’ve bullied him into only using such a small amount of his power on controlling time. But he crosses his fingers behind his back and decides to increase the capacity on his own accord.

It’s not as though they’d notice the difference, anyway.

 

**

 

Yifan exchanges worried glances with Junmyeon as they walk through the hallways in a purposefully slow manner, both silently wondering what awaits them at the SM Entertainment building. They were called by their dorm manager just as they were about to leave for their intensive training session with the other guardians, and were singled out to see Kim Youngmin at the company at once.

Coupled with the information that Kyungsoo had provided them earlier that morning, not to mention the run-in that Junmyeon had with the man during Jongdae’s kidnapping, Yifan and Junmyeon are sure that this visit does not bode well at all.

“Do you think they’ve found out about... _you know_ ,” Junmyeon prompts in a quiet voice, looking troubled. He’s worried they’ve finally caught on to the fact that Junmyeon wasn’t really planning on divulging the Tree’s location at all and, by extension, are planning to hurt Jongdae in return for the false promise.

“If that was the case, then I think they wouldn’t have bothered to summon the both of us here, they would probably have just asked for you and Jongdae instead.” Yifan theorizes.

“They have Yixing under close watch, too, you know,” the Water Guardian reminds Yifan, who scowls even harder in distaste. “At this point of time, I think they’re going to do everything they can to get their hands on the Tree. It’s no longer a game for them, to toy around with us. It’s literally a fight to death.”

"Didn't you mention before that they have someone who has powers like Jongin? Maybe it would have been easier for them if they sent that man instead. I can't even begin to understand how or what it is they could be thinking, but let's just get through this meeting first." Yifan stops when they get to the requisite door of the office and raps on the door twice with his knuckles.

"We're here to see Kim Youngmin-ssi," he calls out, and the both of them wait in silence for a few moments before the door is pulled open by an intimidating looking Jisuk. Yifan doesn't miss the way that Junmyeon stiffens slightly behind him, or the smirk that curls the older man's lips up before the secretary steps back and gestures them in with a silent, mocking bow.

The door closes behind them with a decisive click and Yifan tries his hardest not to feel as if he's just delivered both himself and Junmyeon into the shark's waiting jaws because that is exactly what it feels like.

"He's been waiting."

 


	34. {33} racing against time

_Present day, 2 hours ago_

 

Yixing rubs his eyes with the back of his hand, head still hazy and bleary from sleep as he quietly pads across the room for the door. He chances a look at the SHINee manager who is rooming with him at the hotel, sighing softly when he realises that the man is still asleep like a dead log, even with the incessant rapping of knuckles against the door of their room. He shakes his head in frustration and grunts when he catches sight of the digital clock perched on the bedside table, indicating a time that is much too late to be awake and much too early to be waking someone else up.

He barely smothers a yawn as he opens up the door, not completely registering the person standing outside at first, and sleepily mumbles, “Yes, hyung? Is there something you need?” All Yixing wants to do is to return to bed because the air conditioning feels much too cold without the covers around him, but he has to stick to his manners since he’s still nothing but a trainee in the company, with no solid assurance that he’ll be making his debut in the near future, even if he _is_ on tour with his seniors as Jonghyun’s dance replacement. He tries not to let his thoughts linger on the possibility of a bleak future where his career is concerned.

But Yixing’s taken aback when the visitor chuckles in a voice he doesn’t quite recognise, and gets an even greater shock when he blinks away the last of the sleep in his eyes and comes to an actual realisation that no, it’s not the other SHINee manager at his door.

“I’m flattered that you’d call an old man like me ‘hyung’, Yixing-ssi, but to answer your other question, yes. I have something to talk to you about.”

Yixing blinks several times more, feeling confused as hell because _really_ , what is Lee Sooman doing all the way here in _Japan_ at this time of the night?!

“I. I’m not quite getting this,” he blurts, and frowns when Lee Sooman laughs again. "What are you doing here, sonsaengnim?"

"Maybe you'd like to come out of the room because this might take a while. And I'm pretty sure you don't need more people knowing about your _true_ identity." That amused, yet deadpan statement has Yixing stepping outside the room and pulling the door closed just enough to leave a little sliver so that he can get back in later. The last thing he wants is to lock himself out of the room, especially with a roommate who would probably sleep through even an earthquake – not that Yixing is wishing for one to happen.

“What is this about, sonsaengnim?” Yixing asks tentatively, vaguely remembering something about Lee Sooman possibly being in the same league as Songhyun and Kwangyeol. He remembers belatedly to be wary of the man standing in front of him right now, and thinks dryly that Yifan will either freak the fuck out, or have Yixing’s head _if_ he finds out.

Yixing decides against letting Yifan know.

“This is a bit difficult, but to cut things short, your friends need you back in Korea. They’re going to get their asses handed to them on a plate if we don’t hurry.” Sooman replies with such a serious expression that Yixing doesn’t know whether he should be worrying, or whether he should be laughing at Lee Sooman’s choice of words for a man his age.

Instead, he settles for an incredibly articulate “Uh. Okay?” His brain still hasn't completely caught up with his state of awareness yet and he stares when Lee Sooman gives him a slightly impatient look, accompanied by a huff that seems all too familiar although he's pretty sure he has never heard the former CEO _huff_ before.

"God, you’re as scatter-brained as ever,” Sooman comments, and it really doesn’t help with Yixing’s confusion at all because the man sounds like he _knows_ Yixing very well, and Yixing is sure this is the first time he’s ever sustained a conversation with the older man.

“We're leaving now. In the next _fifteen minutes_. So you had better get your bags packed, otherwise the rest of your friends will have a _much_ slimmer chance of surviving at all."

That gets Yixing's attention and his brain finally decides to catch up to the rest of his body. "Wait, _what_ do you mean, sir? Are my friends in danger? And what and how and why do you know this and why are you warning me?"

"If you keep asking me questions they'll be _dead_ by the time we get there, you know. As it is, we'll probably get there after it has already started, so you had better brace yourself for the worst," Sooman sends him a withering look, but wipes the expression off his face and replaces it with a small smile moments later which, oddly, reminds Yixing of Kyungsoo. “I’ll explain on the plane. Come on, we need to get moving.”

The Healer nods silently and turns to get back into the room to quickly gather up his belongings, quietly swearing under his breath when he stumbles over a bump on the carpet and stubs his toe on the bedpost, but continues on with his hasty packing. Five minutes later, when he's sure he's gotten everything with him, he steps out of the room again, face determined and blinking at the light in the hotel corridor and he wonders if he's seeing things when he sees the split-second wistful look on Lee Sooman's face, but when he looks again it's gone, replaced with a stern expression.

"Time is of the essence. Let's hope that we aren't too late."

 

**

 

_5 days ago_

 

"Hyung, don't pull your punches or you'll end up flattened!" Kyungsoo yells over the cacophony of Jongdae hurling bolts of lightning tentatively at Baekhyun, but the Guardian of Light only retaliates weakly in return. Baekhyun frowns at the younger guardian, but quickly learns that it’s a mistake to get distracted in the middle of a fight when Jongdae nearly fries his left ear off with a closely-aimed lightning bolt. Kyungsoo can only sigh and hope Jongdae doesn’t accidentally kill Baekhyun off in the middle of their training from the latter’s inattention.

He has been trying to supervise them for the past few hours and he understands now why Lee Sooman's pushed him so hard during his training from hell. They really are a far cry from the kind of destruction and power they could have wrecked in comparison to when they were full-fledged guardians upon EXO Planet. The problem is that they don't have the _time_ like they did previously to push them back to full power, unlike the compulsory training and constant pushing from the battle priests from back then. They only have the borrowed time Zitao can grant them, and Kyungsoo can only hope that it will be enough.

Chanyeol, in his weird way of pushing Baekhyun to work harder, jogs up to stand next to Kyungsoo and calls out, “Baekhyun! Remember the other day when he shoved you up against the wall? This is an acceptable way of exacting your revenge for it! Show no mercy!”

A chorus of incensed hisses courtesy of Minseok and Junmyeon follow, and Chanyeol shrieks and runs out of the way of ice bolts raining down on him moments later, countering just in time with his own bolts of flame to melt them into nothing more than harmless water droplets. Kyungsoo deflates at the sight, thinking that he’s stuck with supervising a group of rowdy children, and he can suddenly empathise with Yifan – and, on more occasions than one, Junmyeon – that this is _definitely_ an energy-draining job.

"Guys, come _on_! Put more effort into it!" Zitao yells from the other side as he's taking a break from sparring and focusing on stopping time instead. Maybe Yifan was right when he had told the younger guardian to only use twenty percent of his power on this because it is a _lot_ more tiring than he thought.

The guardian of time grits his teeth and continues though, because the rest of them are counting on him. Sehun casually walks by then, wanting to help ease Zitao’s burden by pushing the rest of the guardians to work harder, and breaks up the squabble by conveniently dragging Chanyeol into a tornado he had conjured with a snap of his fingers, grinning impishly when Chanyeol lets out an indignant sound at being caught off-guard. “You guys better pay attention now. You heard Kyungsoo hyung,” Sehun says in response to that. “I’m not going to be responsible for any injuries you might get.”

"Incoming!" Junmyeon yells as he suddenly slams a wave of water towards Kyungsoo, and the younger boy easily summons a pillar of earth that blocks it. At least that training from hell with Sooman paid off because Kyungsoo feels himself reacting much quicker and with more precision than he had previously.

"Hyung, why are you warning me? DON'T WARN ME!" Kyungsoo yells exasperatedly, reeling around just in time to put up a mud wall to block another incoming attack. He laughs when Jongin chokes and splutters on a mouthful of mud in his face. “Good one, but try harder Jongin.”

There’s a devilish smirk on Jongin’s face then, and Kyungsoo suddenly finds himself losing his footing and falling off the small cliff, landing painfully on the ground below. “You were saying, Kyungsoo hyung?” Jongin taunts from above, pointing down at Kyungsoo’s shadow which he had just manipulated. “Pay attention!” He mimics Kyungsoo’s expressions and intonation, before he disappears into thin air, cackling away.

"Ooh you little brat, you wait till I get my hands on you! Even Luhan hyung won't be able to save you!" The guardian of earth seethes, flinging little balls of the rock that Jongin gleefully dodges as he flashes into and out of sight incessantly. He yelps, though, when he reappears and barely misses getting fried by one of Jongdae's thunderbolts.

"I'd say watch your step, but I think you know better!" Jongdae singsongs as he rolls away from Luhan taking a swipe at his head. Junmyeon sees the exchange, and hurls a water ball in Luhan’s direction to get the Seer off Jongdae’s back.

He’s made a gross miscalculation though, because apparently Luhan’s in much better control of his powers than Junmyeon is, and much more sensitive to his surroundings too. The Water Guardian soon finds himself being lifted by an invisible force and gets hurled across the field like a ragdoll.

" _Crap!"_ Junmyeon curses, and he's upside down and fast approaching the ground, and Jongin hovers worriedly around the area because even for training, this is cutting it too close, but then his eyes widen and he phases out of sight when a huge wave is summoned right under Junmyeon's feet, and the water guardian grins triumphantly as he somehow manages to surf on it to safety.

(If anybody notices how Jongdae had held his breath as he watched Junmyeon fall towards the ground, nobody mentions it.)

“Are you guys actually done fooling around?” Yifan deadpans from his very comfortable position at the peak of the highest cliff, watching his fellow guardians maul each other below. It’s obvious everyone has forgotten about their original sparring partners, turning on the person going after their other half instead, and Yifan decides to give Junmyeon a hard time when they return to their initial arrangements for neglecting him.

Kyungsoo agrees, even though he was caught up in the moment himself. “Yifan hyung is right. Even with Zitao’s time control powers, we can’t possibly slack off like this. This isn’t going to work in our favour.”

Junmyeon seems a bit sheepish when he catches sight of Yifan’s not so subtle I’m-going-to-make-your-life-miserable-in-a-moment look aimed at him and remembers about their sparring arrangements, though he ignores it in the meantime and attempts to placate Kyungsoo instead. “But you can’t possibly train us all by yourself, Kyungsoo. There should be a limit to how much you exert yourself, especially now that Kim Youngmin’s told us we’re going to debut soon and-”

“We’re _what?_ ” There’s a chorus of voices in disbelief as Junmyeon drops the bomb. Yifan only sighs at Junmyeon’s slip of the tongue. He had hoped to keep the information a secret for a couple of days more, so that none of them would be distracted during practice.

“What the fuck is he up to?” Chanyeol growls, unsettled by the sudden revelation. “They’re trying to launch a surprise attack on us, and _then_ tells us we’re going to debut? Is this some kind of a sick joke?”

“I think he’s past caring by now. Kim Youngmin seems to be pulling all the strings here and the rest of them are just following along, with the exception of Lee Sooman right now.”

“But isn’t this all the more reason for us to put up a decent fight against them?” Jongin supplements thoughtfully, a smirk on his face. “Show them we’re not going to go down that easily, and that we’re going to make our debut as twelve without a single scratch.”

“Kim Youngmin mentioned that we’re going to receive intensive training, starting from tomorrow, though,” Junmyeon points out wryly.

Kyungsoo frowns. Kim Youngmin obviously knows what they’re trying to do, and is trying to put a wrench in their plans. “Which means we won’t have enough time to work on our powers, and I think this is exactly what he’s gunning for by announcing this so suddenly.”

“We really won’t make it if Kyungsoo hyung’s the only person who can train us to be on par with them,” Sehun says worriedly, looking up when Yifan steps in front of them with a smug look.

“Well,” he begins, throwing everyone into extreme curiosity, “he’s not the only one who can get you guys to work harder. I guess I should let you guys in on a little secret now.”

And everyone’s eyes widen in surprise when a pair of dark, scaly wings unfolds from either side of Yifan, pulling him into the air high above them.

“Aw _man!_ ” Sehun groans and it’s like a repeat of their battle when they had faced off against both Yifan and Chanyeol on EXO Planet all over again.

 

**

 

_Present day, now_

 

Kim Youngmin smirks as he steps into the open space, appreciating his surroundings one last time before the impending destruction is unleashed upon the area. He turns to look at his companions – all but one – who appear after him, all eager for some bloodshed, the maniacal smiles gleaming on their expressions.

“Gentlemen, shall we?” He announces, and summons up a ball of electricity, muscle memory kicking into action when the first person makes a move.

“It’s been way, _way_ too long,” Songhyun murmurs as he levitates bits of rubble and small rocks from the ground so that it hovers around him. He turns to look at Kwangyeol with a fond smile, watching the flames dance beautifully on the tips of his fingers, casting a warm glow on Kwangyeol’s face.

“Let’s smoke these pests out of their little hiding spot.” Kwangyeol simply says, and all hell breaks loose when the flames lick across the room, raising the temperature round them.

Jongmin smiles wickedly as the shadows flicker around him.

_It’s time._

 


	35. {34} doppelgänger

Chanyeol jolts awake from the flat piece of rock he’s lying on when a sudden surge of heat engulfs them, wondering whether Yifan’s playing a horrid practical joke by attacking them in the middle of their sleep. The past few nights proved that he’s fully capable of such surprise attacks, and Chanyeol had narrowly escaped getting his hair burnt off his head a couple of times.

The building heat and Yifan's wide eyes staring right back from the other side of the space seems to say otherwise, and Luhan screaming at all of them through their mind channels to " _Move! This isn't a drill!_ " proves otherwise.

Luhan, Jongin, Yifan, and Junmyeon had discussed earlier amongst themselves that they would deliberately let Junmyeon leak the information of their whereabouts so that Songhyun would know where they were training, and had braced themselves to set up a shift between the four of them in case they attacked in the middle of the night. They have not told the others what had happened when Jongdae was kidnapped yet, so it was all they could do to push everyone else harder and make sure they were able to use their abilities to their maximum capabilities.

All of them roll off their pallets and onto their feet quickly, and Jongdae manages to duck right before a fireball sails right at him, just where his head had been barely a few seconds earlier. There's no question now that Youngmin and his gang have arrived, and each of them have their powers ready to call on at a split-second's notice.

There is the sound of clapping that comes from a point in the middle of their training area and it's obscured by a rolling of fog that comes out of nowhere, but when Junmyeon and Minseok try to dispel it they realise that it's not actual fog, because it reacts to neither of their powers. "There's an illusion user amongst them," Junmyeon warns the rest of them audibly, and everyone tenses up, suddenly hyperaware of their surroundings.

“I’m surprised you actually realised it. Not bad,” Songhyun’s voice projects throughout the arena. He snaps his fingers, and the fog around him promptly dissipates. There’s a smirk on his face aimed at Junmyeon and Minseok, one that says he’s up to no good.

“So you’re the one who has the same powers as I do? Well fuck, I’ve never felt more insulted in my life,” Baekhyun makes a face and Chanyeol snickers next to him.

There's a twitch in Songhyun's face as anger washes over his face momentarily, but then Woojung puts his hand on the other man's shoulder and shakes his head. "Later," he says cryptically and Songhyun nods minutely before focusing his attention on the guardians again.

"I'd watch what I was saying if I were you. You'll never know if you could be insulting a potential ally," he idly looks at his fingers, and then back at them again, smirk back on his face in an instant.

"I highly doubt you would ever be an ally to us," Jongdae snarls. He hasn't forgotten the time when he was kidnapped at all and how he was beaten up; he has just been biding his time. But the smirk on Songhyun’s face just grows wider and Jongdae freezes, because did he just see an image of Baekhyun in Songhyun?

"Be careful with what you say," Songhyun reminds him again with a wicked smile on his face before nodding at Youngmin who steps forward with a barely veiled and crazed look on his face. His eyes are surprisingly cold and doesn't seem to match the insanity of his facial expression.

His gaze is pinned on Jongdae as he speaks. “So you’ve been tipped off on our ‘surprise’ attack. No matter. I doubt you brats will be much of a match for us regardless.”

Jongdae snarls at him, the immense hatred at Youngmin and his group for ruining his life and his relationship with Junmyeon crawling to the surface. “Are you sure you’re in a position to underestimate us right now? Your own words will come and bite you back on your asses.”

Without warning, Jongdae sends a bolt of electricity in Youngmin’s direction, eager to get an upper hand in this fight. He bristles in frustration when his attack is parried easily by the man.

“You were saying?” Youngmin looks unconcerned about Jongdae's sudden attack, but appears rather disappointed instead. "Is that all you've got? And here we were nice enough to give you some heads-up and extra time to train up properly so you would at least be a challenge."

“I’m not listening to your bullshit when you’re not even showing what you’re worth.” Jongdae’s relentless in getting Youngmin riled up, and he smirks when Youngmin’s eyes narrow in response to the insult. He ignores the warning hiss from Junmyeon. There’s no way he would back down now.

" _Brat, I'll make you eat your words before long_!" Youngmin seethes and the rest of them are only slightly surprised when a huge bolt of lightning zings towards Jongdae, but then there's a wall of earth that springs up in front of him suddenly as Jongdae stands there, eyes defiant as he meets Youngmin's glare until the earth wall blocks off their line of sight.

“I hate to interrupt,” Kyungsoo speaks up calmly, “but I was under the impression you had something else to tell us. So why don’t you spit it out and we can get down to kicking your asses?” Sehun is unable to stop his sudden burst of laughter because _oh, this is too good_ until Zitao shushes him. Nevertheless, the martial artist himself is grinning.

Youngmin seems to be trying to swallow his anger as he turns to look at Kyungsoo, his face expressionless now, and it’s almost believable, as if they had never seen the clear madness etched across his skin earlier.

“Remember what you wished for,” he warns, fingers flexing by his side. Jongdae warns Kyungsoo through their mind channels that another attack might be launched at them; he doesn’t know why, but the gesture reminds him a lot of himself, to concentrate the electricity current at his fingertips.

“We’re willing to cut a deal with you,” Woojung interrupts before anyone can throw even more attacks and insults around. “Give us your Tree of Life, and we’ll consider sparing your lives and allowing you to make your debut without a fuss.”

“Keyword being _consider_ , hmm?” Jongin shoots back, a smile pulling at the corner of his lips. His eyes pan to the man he doesn’t recognise, making a mental note that this is the person who shares his powers. "Sorry to burst your bubble but we've learnt from the last time since you cut a deal with Junmyeon hyung."

Jongdae's eyes widen in realisation at this bit of information that Jongin has just dropped with all the finesse of an atomic bomb. _All this time-_ His eyes slant over to Junmyeon, and there's a wry smile that pulls at the older guardian's lips. "You never-" he starts, and Junmyeon cuts him off in the recesses of their mind, a resounding " _no"_ and the world that had seemed to be upside down ever since their fallout seems to have righted itself properly now.

_I would never even think about it_ , Junmyeon continues, making sure the thought is fed into Songhyun’s consciousness, and by extension, his entire group’s minds, and he meets their eyes with a smirk.

The level of anger in the room surges to a new high when the group realises they’ve been played. “ _Fucking brats-_ ”

"Jongdae said it earlier, and I'm going to say it again," Junmyeon steps forward, swirling balls of water that levitate in either hand and there is a determination and hardness in his eyes as he draws even with Jongdae.

" _Don't underestimate us._ " He lets go of the swirling globes without warning and they speed towards Songhyun and Youngmin, growing in size as they travel. Kwangyeol hisses and fire bursts from his palms to vaporise the globes, but they split into smaller globes that turn into ice before sharpening into ice arrows and managing to graze past Youngmin's cheek and draw blood. Youngmin looks murderous as his fingers touch the cut and come away with blood.

“Don’t interfere with them; _I’m_ your opponent.” Minseok steps up to his dance teacher confidently, balancing a sharply crafted ice bolt on the tip of his index finger, before tossing it into the air and catching it by its newly formed hilt, turning it into a knife. Kwangyeol can barely spare a look at Songhyun, who gets swept away by a tornado that could only be Sehun’s doing, barely able to melt away the tip of the knife Minseok’s wielding before he could deal any real damage to him.

It descends into chaos after that with Junmyeon and Kyungsoo alternatively attacking and defending against Youngmin's increasingly furious attacks. Minseok seems to be doing fairly well on his own against Kwangyeol, while Zitao goes after Jisuk and they exchange fast blows. Jongmin makes a beeline for Luhan and Jongin with a sinister grin, and Yifan and Chanyeol takes on the very calm Woojung. Songhyun is scowling at Baekhyun and Sehun as the Wind Guardian happily sends large gusts of wind towards the head of the trainee department, making him lose his footing now and then.

Jongdae jumps into the fray and falls in beside Junmyeon, cutting off zaps of electricity being sent in their direction with his own. “Why didn’t you say anything about it?” He shouts over the commotion, not caring that everyone else could hear him.

“Kim Jongdae!” Junmyeon fairly snaps at him, forehead scrunched in concentration as he tries not to get himself electrocuted with his attacks. “This isn’t really the time to discuss this!” Next to him, Kyungsoo nods in agreement, putting up a wall of earth to nullify the electric currents before sending boulders raining down on Youngmin, who dodges them just as easily.

“But-!” Jongdae protests.

Just then, Junmyeon catches sight of Jongin and Luhan struggling to keep the unfamiliar man at bay from the corner of his eyes. “Go help Jongin and Luhan hyung, they need you more than we do right now!”

_“Junmyeon!”_

“ _Go!_ We’ll talk about this when we get out of this massacre!” Junmyeon cuts him off. He cups Jongdae’s face and pulls him in for a deep kiss, a promise to stay alive at the end of this all, and pushes Jongdae away from him. “ _Go!”_ He insists, tone barring any further discussion, and Jongdae looks at him longingly one last time before he tears his eyes away and bounds over to where Jongin and Luhan are.

They’re going to make it out alive. _They have to_.

 

***

 

Jongmin gleefully zips in and out of sight as he makes his way towards Luhan, the anticipation building up as the distance between them dwindles. It’s been too long, _too long_ since he'd last seen him, and he _just can’t wait_ to get his hands on the boy. Both Luhan and Jongin look fairly disturbed and the younger boy curses as he tries to open shadow portals under the man's feet and pull him into the shadow dimension, but he's much too slippery, disappearing the very second that Jongin's portals start to form only to reappear again, closer to them this time with that unsettling obsessed look on his face.

He hums in appreciation when he manages to wrap his arms around Luhan’s neck, pulling the boy flush against him. “Hello there, Luhan. Do you recognise me?” He whispers into the Seer’s ear, chuckling when Luhan claws at his arms in an attempt to make him loosen his grip. But the man’s grip only grows tighter, nearly suffocating Luhan in his hold.

“Why the fuck should I recognise you?” Luhan spits and gasps for breath, all while urging Jongin to _hurry up, I can’t breathe_.

Jongmin makes a small noise of surprise and indignation. “It hasn’t even been that long since we’ve met. I’m Jongin, don’t you remember?”

" _What the fuck_ ," the younger boy breathes as he reappears next to them and hears the unbelievable statement from Jongmin's mouth, highly disturbed at the way that the man is all over Luhan. He's surprised that Luhan hasn't telekinetically pushed the creepy man away by now, but is literally hit with the understanding when he gets shoved away from them and the man shoots him a murderous look.

" _Don't touch Luhan with your filthy hands,"_ the creepy man hisses, hands stroking over Luhan's face as he tries to turn the Seer's face towards him.

"Seriously, _what the fuck_ , old man?! You're the creepy one! Keep _your_ filthy hands off _my_ boyfriend, you paedophile!"

Jongmin laughs at him. “Are _you_ calling yourself a paedophile right now? We’re one and the same person, you know.”

Jongin stares at him in disbelief as Jongdae joins him, throwing a thunderbolt at the man, dangerously close to the space between Luhan and Jongmin, and he has no choice but to let Luhan go. Jongin darts forward quickly to grab the older boy and move out of range of the crazy man.

"What the hell do you mean we're the same person? I would never be as crazy as you are!" Jongin snarls as his hands pat at Luhan's back. Luhan splutters a little for air, but squeezes Jongin’s arm to reassure the Shadow Walker that he’s fine. Jongdae is watching Jongmin warily, electricity crackling at his fingertips and ready to launch it at the man if he so much as twitches in the wrong direction.

Jongmin throws back his head and laughs, guttural and long and crazy and the attention of the people from the rest of his group focuses on him momentarily.

" _You little shit, Jongmin_ ," Junmyeon and Kyungsoo are surprised to hear the murderous tone that laces Youngmin's voice, "You were supposed to keep your mouth shut until later! _Once again, you're ruining everything!_ "

Jongmin doesn’t look too perturbed by Youngmin’s display of anger. “Does it even matter? They don’t even believe in me,” he shrugs nonchalantly, feigning a yawn, but his eyes remain trained on Luhan, as if planning to pull him into his arms again.

Luhan's mind races with the crazy proclamation that Jongmin has made. If what he said was really true, then it would actually make a lot of sense regarding everything that had happened during the battle on EXO Planet, and everything that had happened here on Earth.

Luhan’s head snaps up to meet Jongin’s eyes when he comes to a frightening realisation.

“They’re. They’re _us_.”

 


	36. {35} damage done is damage tripled

“They’re us,” Luhan repeats his words, slowly and softly, as if trying to convince himself of the authenticity behind his own statement. It’s a crazy thought, that this very group of people fighting against them, wanting to take their lives just to get their hands on the Tree of Life, is actually _them_ , but there’s no other explanation for it. The sense of familiarity emanating off their mannerisms, their powers, the way the other group seem to know each and every one of their weakness like the back of their hands, and the similarities between their mind channels... the more Luhan tries to deduce something out of it all, the more he ends up at the same point.

They’re them. They’re one and the same. They’re fighting against _themselves_.

" _Ding ding_ , give Luhan a prize," Jongmin claps excitedly, and the all too familiar action that he has actually _seen_ Jongin make before makes Luhan want to throw up. "My Luhan was always the smartest."

Jongin and Jongdae stare at him in abject horror. "Hyung, do you seriously believe this madman's words?" Jongin splutters.

"Think about it, Jongin, how else would anyone else have been able to infiltrate Yifan and Chanyeol's minds so easily without any of us being any wiser? How could they have known so much about our powers? Even the _priests_ that trained us didn't know everything that we were capable of, and they certainly never knew about _us_." Luhan rationalises, and he's ninety-nine percent sure he is utterly correct. Again he fights against the nausea and the bile that’s threatening to rise up his throat. This is insane.

Jongdae looks pale and sick too. "I think Luhan hyung is right. When I got kidnapped, they taunted me a lot about my relationship with Junmyeon hyung and- no one else would actually know that much about us otherwise."

“You guys are no fun,” Songhyun sighs dramatically at their deduction. “I was hoping that our little secret could be kept a little longer, but oh well.” He shoots an evil eye in Jongmin’s direction for ruining things, and snaps his fingers. The illusion dissolves, and suddenly the guardians are faced with an older version of themselves. There’s no mistaking it now.

" _Shit_ ," Chanyeol mutters as he stares at a much older version of Yifan who stares back at them calmly. No wonder there was something that seemed horribly familiar about his movements.

"No wonder all my attempts at speeding up time were nullified," Zitao scowls at his older self, minus the piercings, but the derisive, arrogant look is still the same, the same one that he himself uses when there are things that really piss him off.

"I can't believe none of you picked up on any of the hints at all," Kwangyeol points out lazily, fire whips flicking lazily and melting Minseok's ice javelins that speed towards him. "I mean, just look at our _names_. It's all laid out there for you to see if you actually pay attention." He sighs melodramatically. "But obviously all of you are too self-absorbed to actually realise that at all."

"If that's the case, then there should be twelve of you too, but there's only seven, if we include Lee Sooman-sonsaengnim," Kyungsoo points out and Youngmin scoffs at how Kyungsoo still uses the honorific for the older version of himself. "That doesn't explain where the others are. Did you kill them because they opposed to your plans?"

Jongmin is in Kyungsoo’s face in a split second, fisting his shirt and breathing down his neck with uncontained anger. Kyungsoo meets his eyes levelly, not wanting to appear to be intimidated by Jongmin. “ _Don’t you dare speak so lowly of us_.” Jongmin hisses. “ _I would_ never _kill Luhan. Never.”_

"They're dead." Youngmin says bluntly, as if he doesn't give a damn anymore.

“Why?” Junmyeon asks then, watching Youngmin flinch at his question.

"Unlike you, we weren't as lucky to be reborn into human bodies, and some of us obviously didn't survive." The older version of Jongdae snaps. " _You're_ dead." There’s a split second of vulnerability in Youngmin’s eyes when he meets Junmyeon’s determined ones, gone as fast as it had appeared, and Junmyeon feels himself wanting to reach out for the man, wanting to offer him comfort in any way he could, but he then remembers that _they’re_ _the enemy_ , no matter that they’re technically them.

Youngmin might _look_ like an older version of Jongdae, but the man standing in front of him, the one who had threatened their very _lives,_ is not the same as the Jongdae he knows and loves. No matter how angry and disappointed the Thunder Guardian had been with him when he thought that Junmyeon had betrayed them, there was never a coldness in his eyes that looked like _this_.

It’s as though Youngmin had lost his humanity – Junmyeon isn’t surprised, but he wants to find out _why_ regardless.

"It doesn't justify you taking over Chanyeol's and Yifan's minds and threatening Jongdae and I," Junmyeon presses on. He can see the similarities now, between Youngmin and Jongdae, but he can see the differences too. "And trying to forcibly take the Tree of Life from us is even worse. What do you even hope to achieve by that?"

Youngmin’s gaze shuts off then, and the piercing coldness is back in his expressions. “You don’t have the need to know. If you refuse to hand the Tree over, then we’ll just have to forcibly grab it from you.”

He doesn’t even give them the opportunity to dwell on his words, unleashing a large ball of electricity at the group which has congregated together by now, the murderous intent stronger than ever.

Jongmin looks somewhat sad as he sighs, "Looks like discussion time is over," he sing-songs, then disappears before the ball of electricity speeds towards him, appearing before Luhan, Jongin, and Jongdae again. “You’re coming with me,” he says to Luhan, catching him unawares. He grabs Luhan by the shoulder, and pulls him into the void he’s created, disappearing totally from sight before any of them could react fast enough.

Jongin’s stomach sinks and his blood goes cold when he realises Luhan’s _gone_ , suddenly deathly afraid of what the crazier version of himself might do to Luhan. He doesn’t like the feeling at all.

“Jongin,” Jongdae says, a hint of caution in his words when he realises what Jongin’s thinking of doing. He grabs onto Jongin’s arm when the younger guardian ignores him and attempts to chase after Luhan and Jongmin. “Don’t give in to his taunting. _You_ , of all people, should know that it’s dangerous to travel between dimensions without knowing what you’re up against.”

Jongin snaps around with a sharp glare, though it’s meant for himself rather than the Thunder Guardian. “ _He has Luhan._ I can’t just sit here and do nothing about it! _Jongdae hyung_ , _please_. You know how it feels to lose someone and being unable to stop it from happening! _Please_ , _let me go_.”

The frustration is threatening to tear Jongin apart, and Jongdae’s heart wrenches at the sight. It’s the first time he’s ever seen Jongin being so broken, without the slightest hint of the usual confidence surrounding him, and he loosens his grip on Jongin’s arm.

“Fine, but you’ll have to bring me along. At least I can attack him on your behalf while you grab Luhan hyung back.”

Jongin’s lips are pressed into a thin smile at the offer. _I’m sorry, hyung_ is all that Jongin says, before he disappears into the darkness, leaving Jongdae behind in the real world as he chases after Luhan alone. _This is something that only I can do_.

Jongin ignores the furious jabbing at the back of his mind, courtesy of Jongdae, and lets the unknown swallow him up.

 

**

 

_Luhan!_ Jongin frantically screams in his mind, popping in and out of the spaces between dimensions in search of the madman and Luhan. The spatial manipulation is taking a massive toll on his body, but Jongin isn’t about to give up until he finds them. _Where are you? Are you okay?_

“It depends whether you _want_ him to be okay.” Someone chuckles then, and Jongin intuitively _knows_ that their mind channels are being breached and he snarls.

“If you even _dare_ lay a finger on Luhan, I swear to God-” He breaks off as Jongmin flashes into view again with Luhan struggling against him wildly.

“Ah, ah, ah,” For someone who is apparently around the bend, he is very good at making threats. “You don’t get to threaten _me_ , brat. Ask nicely and I _might_ be nice to Luhan here, but if you’re mean to me-” he grips at Luhan’s arm hard enough to make the Seer cry out in pain and Jongin is worried that he might have broken the other boy’s arm, judging from the awkward angle it’s bent into. “Then Luhan is the one that will suffer because of _you_.”

Jongin recoils when the man licks at Luhan’s neck, obviously trying to rile him up as much as possible. “If I can’t have him, then _neither can you_.” Before Jongin can even say a word, they’re gone again, and the chase in between dimensions is on.

_Jongin, stay calm_. Luhan nudges at Jongin, although the panic is evident in his voice, from the way his words tremble at the end. _You won’t be able to trace him down if you don’t stay calm_.

Jongin bites back the retort he feels is forming on his tongue, because he knows that fighting over it wouldn’t help the situation at all. Instead, Jongin squeezes his eyes shut, and attempts to find the silent thrum of Luhan’s mind. It’s supposed to be easy, for all the years he’s spent with Luhan, learning about each other to the finest of details. He can almost feel the warmth of Luhan’s skin against his.

“So I’m going to play a little game of hide-and-seek with you, my little powerless counterpart.” Jongmin decides to cut in then, tone mocking, breaking Jongin’s concentration.

“If you can find us on your own accord, then you win.” His voice turns harsh and cruel right after. “But if you _can’t_ , then _I’m_ keeping Luhan forever and this is the last you will _ever_ see of him. You have until the end of the battle when I’ll transport us back there.” There’s a wild cackle and then the voice is once again gone from Jongin’s head as he tries to pinpoint their location desperately.

The parting shot Jongmin leaves gives Jongin a heavy weight in his stomach.

“ _Finders, keepers! Losers, weepers!_ ” The madman’s voice echoes in his head.

“You’re a fucking spineless bastard!” Jongin shouts in frustration, and immediately regrets it when Luhan cries out in pain again. He bites on his lower lip so hard that it draws blood, the tears brimming in his eyes, because Jongin _can’t_ handle the thought that Luhan is suffering because of him.

“If I were you, I’d watch my tongue!” Jongmin clicks his tongue disapprovingly then laughs again. “Hurry up now, tick tock, time is ticking away!”

Jongin swallows another curse at that, and desperately clings onto the trail that Luhan’s secretly leaving behind instead.

It’s a race against time and this is one fight that Jongin _cannot_ afford to lose.

 

**

 

If he had a choice, Chanyeol wishes he had never found out that the people they’re up against are actually _them_. As he blocks another ball of fire from Woojung, Chanyeol finds it increasingly difficult to fight back, part of him twisting sickeningly at the thought that he’s actually fighting Yifan. He _knows_ that Woojung and Yifan are two distinct individuals at this point of time, but the distant memory of him being controlled by Songhyun and the fabricated images Songhyun had injected into his mind then, way back when they were still on EXO planet, are clouding his judgement, making it hard for him to concentrate.

“Come now, Chanyeol, I’m sure you can do better than that. Show me something that Kwangyeol hasn’t yet. Surely you have something interesting to surprise me with?” Woojung says placidly, as if he doesn’t really care much about the outcome of it all, apart from the fact that he wants to get a good fight out of this.

It both irritates and disgusts Chanyeol because this wasn’t what they were trained for, this wasn’t what _guardians_ were meant to be, and it helps to see the difference between Woojung and Yifan more clearly.

He glances to his right in surprise when Yifan gets pushed past him by a strong gust of wind, teeth gritted as he tries to anchor himself to the ground. That’s when Chanyeol realises that Woojung has allowed his wings to see the light of day. It’s a sure sign that Woojung’s getting bored, and they’re in _deep_ trouble.

“Chanyeol, stop spacing out! You’re going to get yourself killed!” Yifan snaps at him as he slides back and decides it’s better to roll sideways instead, unfurling his own wings as he gets his footing back. _We aren’t the same people and you_ know _that, so keep your mind on the battle and stop comparing!_

_I know that, okay?!_ Chanyeol snaps back, clearly frustrated with himself. He curses inwardly when two identical Yifans clash with each other, momentarily confused again. Woojung seems to have lost some of his age lines, making him appear younger in Chanyeol’s mind. _I think that prick Jung Songhyun’s messing with my head again with his fucking illusions. I’m scared of hurting_ you _by mistake_ , _so cut me some slack already!_

_Are you or are you not a phoenix at heart?_ Burn _him!_ Yifan chides, smirking when Chanyeol seems to get what he means. He glances at where Baekhyun and Sehun are fending off Songhyun’s illusions and beams of light, and the man turns to look at him momentarily and he gives Chanyeol a lazy smirk.

The anger builds within Chanyeol and he deliberately shapes a fire rope in his mind, mimicking the water whips that he remembers seeing Junmyeon in action with and wraps it around the presence of Songhyun’s intrusion in his mind, making sure to burn him and he knows that it’s worked when Songhyun recoils and falls to the ground momentarily, crying out in pain.

Chanyeol flips a finger at Songhyun, smug smile on his lips. “Fight your own battle, dickhead!” He yells over the commotion, taking pleasure in the way Songhyun’s face contorts into a grimace.

“Are you sure you can afford to look away from _your_ own fight, Chanyeol?” A voice – Woojung’s – is suddenly too near to Chanyeol’s ear, and before Chanyeol can even react, Woojung’s hand is already on his arm, the searing heat collecting at his fingertips and seeping through Chanyeol’s skin, leaving a nasty burn on the fire guardian’s arm.

Chanyeol falls to the ground in a crumpled heap, clutching his injured arm in agony, and he thinks he vaguely hears Baekhyun calling his name. Yifan’s at his side at once, expressions torn between worry for Chanyeol and hatred for his more deranged self. Woojung hovers in the air as he watches them impassively, the ghost of a smirk pulling at the corner of his lips.

“ _Fuck_ ,” Yifan curses as he takes a look at Chanyeol’s injury, all while keeping a close watch on Woojung. It’s much worse than he had expected it to be, the angry red skin exposed making him wince. “You need to get this fixed by Yixing and-” The guardian of flight starts again, and stops himself when he remembers that Yixing _isn’t_ around. “ _Fuck._ ”

“I can still fight,” Chanyeol grits out, although the way he clutches at his arm tells Yifan that his concentration will still be severely compromised because of the pain. “I can get this taken care of later, but first there’s got to _be_ a later!”

“But-” Yifan wants to talk Chanyeol out of it, to convince him that he can handle Woojung all by himself, but then he sees the determination in Chanyeol’s eyes and he _knows_ the younger guardian isn’t going to sit out of it until he completely loses his ability to move. He inhales deeply when the killing intent he never knew had existed in him rises in his chest, and he meets Woojung’s piercing gaze with one of equal intensity. “If you say so, Chanyeol. We’ll just have to make quick work out of him.”

“O-ho. Such big words from such a weak pair,” Woojung smirks at the declaration, suddenly feeling excited by the prospect that they were finally going to give him a good fight. He knows that look in Yifan’s eyes all too well.

“We’re going to make you eat your words.”

Woojung narrows his eyes at Yifan. “Don’t get swallowed up by the bloodlust now.” He mock-warns, and allows his true dragon form take over completely.

“ _Fucking hell._ ” Yifan swears as he glares at the large black dragon that looms above them, Woojung’s wings flapping slowly as if mocking them for being puny humans on the ground. It takes a short moment before Yifan’s in the air as well, his dragon form small in comparison to Woojung’s, but he dashes at top speed towards Woojung, wanting to gain the upper hand in this fight.

He only hopes he’ll be able to live long enough to see Yixing’s smile again.

 


	37. {36} face-off

Baekhyun fights hard to keep the tears at bay, his heart already aching in a way he never thought was possible at the thought that Chanyeol is hurt. Chanyeol’s badly injured, yet he’s still fighting like the idiot he is. He’s overwhelmed by the sudden pessimism that they might not live through this, that he won’t be able to see Chanyeol’s bright smiles ever again, and it makes Baekhyun want to throw up when he remembers the angry, red, exposed skin of Chanyeol’s arm. He jumps back from a flash of light that almost singes his nose and Songhyun chides him for his inattention.

“Ah, I think you’d better pay attention to me rather than to your boyfriend over there before _you_ get burnt too.”

Baekhyun conjures a whip of light and blocks off Songhyun’s attack, leaving a long scratch along his forearm when Songhyun raises his arm to avoid it, though it’s nothing more than a superficial injury. “I don’t need you to remind me!” He spits, sending another ball of light at Songhyun. He swears as Songhyun effortlessly rolls out of harm’s way and just as swiftly parries Sehun’s attacks coming from the other side.

“How does it feel to see your lover being hurt, hmm?” Songhyun taunts, casting a lazy glance at the minor injury on his arm.

“Why don’t _you_ tell me?” Baekhyun retorts, catching the way Kwangyeol’s sent sliding across the ground on the far side of the field, having been caught off-guard by Minseok. He mentally congratulates the older guardian when Minseok manages to leave a rather deep gash across Kwangyeol’s abdomen with an ice pike.

But to Baekhyun’s surprise, Songhyun doesn’t even bat an eyelash at the sight. “Serves him right for being such a careless idiot,” he says callously. “If he’s not strong enough then all it means is that he’s occupying the couch tonight. And if he can’t even put up a fight against brats like you, then there isn’t a need for his existence.”

The words chill Baekhyun to the bone, and Baekhyun can’t help but wonder what exactly they have been through to lose all traces of their humanity. The Guardians of EXO aren’t supposed to be so fragmented, so _broken_ , but perhaps that was why they had lost their Tree of Life to begin with.

“What _happened_ to you to make you like this?” The Guardian of Light murmurs, unaware that he’s even speaking out loud in abject horror.

Songhyun sneers at this. “Do you want us to _show_ you why?”

For a moment, nothing happens, and Baekhyun almost frowns in confusion. He barely has the time to roll out of the way moments later, thanks to a panicked warning from Sehun, narrowly avoiding getting consumed by a giant ball of light which came from nowhere. His eyes widen in horror when he sees the massive hole in the ground where the ball of light had seeped into. Had he been standing there, Baekhyun’s sure he’d be completely incinerated by now.

“Tch, you got lucky.” Songhyun clicks his tongue in distaste. “But it won’t happen again.”

At the sight of the growing brightness on Songhyun’s palm and the malicious smirk on his face, Baekhyun takes this as a sign to push Sehun in the opposite direction away from him, and to start running for their lives. _Roll!_ He yells in the recesses of his mind, because he knows what comes next from that brightness, and sure enough, it’s like a laser beam of light that flashes across his irises and when he’s gotten to his feet again, there’s a long scorch mark on the ground where Sehun had been earlier.

Thank goodness that Sehun had managed to get out of the line of fire before the light strobe had hit him, because Baekhyun remembers the time back on EXO Planet when he had burned Junmyeon with it accidentally, and it had taken two days for Yixing to heal it properly and the scar never really went away (Jongdae had glowered at him for a good month for that stunt).

“Running isn’t going to solve your problems, Byun Baekhyun. You know that,” Songhyun smirks, throwing more beams of light at the pair. “What’s the matter? Haven’t you gained enough control of your powers to do the same tricks? You’re such a disappointment.”

Sehun chooses that time to send a mini hurricane his way, grunting at the effort it takes when he throws another one right after him. Songhyun has to eat his own words when Baekhyun throws a light spear at him and he barely dodges it, movements displaced because of Sehun’s mini hurricanes that continue to blow around him.

“I’m less talk and more action, unlike _you,_ fortunately,” Baekhyun mutters, more concentrated on getting out of this in one piece than talking crap with his older self.

It’s a good thing they’re alike in some ways, because Baekhyun finds it easier when he can see through Songhyun’s actions and plans. But then again he’s also at a disadvantage, because Songhyun can do the exact same thing and his eyes cut towards Sehun. _Maybe_ he can do something about it. Looking at the way that there isn’t an older Sehun amongst their group, they might have forgotten some of the tricks that the Wind Guardian has up his sleeve.

_Sehun, I’m going to distract the bastard. Do you think you can cook up a strong enough attack to kick his ass?_ Baekhyun asks through their mind channels, making sure it’s away from the prying mind of Jung Songhyun.

_There’s this one thing that I tried with Zitao hyung that I think might work. Let’s try it, hyung!_

Baekhyun grins. _Good. Don’t worry about hurting me in the process. Just do whatever you have to in order to bring him down._

Sehun looks utterly horrified at the thought. _Hyung, I can’t do that!_

_Listen to me if you want to get out of this alive. We can’t pull our shots now, Sehun-ah._ Baekhyun readies himself before letting loose a number of light strobes that Songhyun seems to be able to block off much too easily. He smiles inwardly, hoping that Songhyun would let his guard down at Baekhyun’s half-hearted attacks. He’s not about to put his full ability on display. Not yet.

“ _Useless,_ ” Songhyun sneers, sending a boomerang-shaped light beam towards the both of them. Sehun deflects it out of their way and it hits a huge boulder closer to where Junmyeon and Kyungsoo are, and Kyungsoo yells ‘ _thanks for the ammunition!!_ ’ in his mind before he pelts Youngmin with the newly shattered pieces of rock heartily.

_You’re gonna have to protect me from Chanyeol hyung’s wrath if we get out of this mess._ Sehun mutters in his head, reluctantly agreeing to Baekhyun’s request.

When _we get out of this mess_ , Baekhyun corrects him, and mentally sends his reassurance that everything will be alright. _Are you ready?_

_Bring it, hyung._ Sehun agrees grimly, and Baekhyun does just that.

 

**

 

Kwangyeol coughs up clumps of blood as he tries to stand, glaring angrily at the guardian of ice for the injury he had inflicted on him. Minseok’s ice pike is sharper than he had imagined it to be, and it had left an injury much deeper than Kwangyeol would have liked, a little too close to his vital organs. He hadn’t been able to melt it completely before it struck into his abdomen and the blood that is spreading across his middle is seeping into his clothes.

He isn’t losing blood at a very alarming rate, but he’ll be damned if he’s going to lose to this brat, so he grits his teeth as he holds a hand to the wound, cauterizing it easily and barely missing the next ice arrow that Minseok flings his way. He curses under his breath again, willing his powers to work faster. It’s been awhile since he’s had to heal his own wounds, and it’s slower than he remembered it to be.

“Damned brat,” he spits when he’s done, eyes still narrowed. “You should just be an obedient kid and _stay down_.”

Minseok flings several more sharply-crafted ice bolts at his dance teacher. “I’ll be damned if I did. I have to defend our honour as the guardians of EXO Planet – something which _you_ _lot_ seem to have forgotten about.”

“ _Honour,_ now, is it?” Kwangyeol laughs bitterly. “Honour hasn’t gotten us anywhere but landing us on this stupid planet, not even in the right fucking dimension and with half our number dead, so really, Kim Minseok, _to hell with honour_.”

The man throws a massive fireball towards Minseok, one that he can’t dodge and he rolls to the side instead, balking when it follows his movements and he hastily puts up an ice wall, rolling backwards and forming a few more as he pants, putting in more power into each one as they melt the way a hot knife slices through butter.

_Fuck,_ Minseok thinks as the fireball keeps pushing forwards with no signs of stopping and he’s going to be completely screwed over, and his energy will be depleted before he’s able to inflict a more life-threatening injury on Kwangyeol, or burnt alive. Just then, a thunderbolt collides with the fireball, causing it to explode and Jongdae joins him right as he erects a huge ice wall that covers them both.

“Thanks,” Minseok sighs in relief. “But don’t think I’m going to let you off this easily. I’m still going to give you hell for not trusting in Junmyeon.”

Jongdae fairly scowls at him, but a smile finds its way to his expressions soon enough. “When are you ever going to cut me some slack?”

“You want the truth?” The ice guardian asks, glancing over his shoulder when he hears footsteps nearing them, the heat suddenly oppressive. “How about _never._ ” And he jumps out from behind the ice wall he had put up, summoning a snowstorm that envelopes Kwangyeol and engulfs him completely.

“Ow, hyung that hurts, really it does,” Jongdae remarks as he throws in a few lightning bolts into the fray, hoping that they fry Kwangyeol while he’s blinded in the snowstorm. “What is your beef with me, really.”

“For stealing Junmyeon from me. I can’t believe you never knew.” Minseok laughs when Jongdae looks horrified. “Then again, maybe stolen isn’t the right word, because he’s only ever had eyes for _you_. Why do you think I’m so overprotective when it comes to him, you idiot?”

“I’m sorry?” Jongdae blurts, flustered. He skids across the sand in an effort to avoid more fireballs being thrown at them by Kwangyeol, and summons more lightning bolts to counter the man’s attacks. Slowly, the memories from their training back on EXO Planet return to him, and his muscles move on their own accord before he can even think about how to react.

“You’d better learn how to trust him properly and treasure him like he should have been treasured. The next time you break his heart, I won’t just stand aside and watch you do it like he’s worth nothing,” Minseok warns him, hand outstretched as he forms another ice javelin and flings it into the localised snowstorm. “Bonded pair or not, he doesn’t deserve to be treated like shit, especially not by you.”

“I won’t,” Jongdae promises as he presses his palm against the ground, mouthing old incantations and summoning a large bolt of lightning that strikes down on the snowstorm where Kwangyeol is. The earth rumbles around them. He exchanges a look with Minseok, both stopping their attacks, wondering if they had managed to subdue Kwangyeol. It isn’t in their intentions to kill him, but it would be good if they could stop him from attacking.

“Did we get him?” They peer at the clearing fog and wait, then groan as a figure steps out from it all, worse for wear, but more furious than ever. “Ah, shit.” Jongdae mutters under his breath. “How the hell do we finish him off? Or at the very least knock him out or something.”

Kwangyeol cackles when he hears what Jongdae has to say. “Do you think powerless kids like you can deal enough damage to stop me? _Don’t fuck with me_.” He claps mockingly. “Although let me applaud you for a passable try.” His voice becomes distorted and the two guardians watch in horror as a black phoenix rises above them. “ _But now, you’re going to pay for it with your lives._ ”

“Fuck this, not again.” Jongdae sighs dramatically. “Looks like play time’s over, huh Minseok hyung?”

Minseok nods solemnly. “No more games. Let’s show him what we’re worth.” There is a flicker of fear within him, but Minseok decidedly pushes it aside, letting the calmness warm his veins. They haven’t trained so hard for nothing, and he’s sure they can deal some sort of real damage on Kwangyeol when they lift their restraints on their true powers.

Trust, as Minseok has learned, is the most important key to boosting their powers. And he trusts that together with Jongdae, they can do this. At the very least, he’s going to make sure Jongdae stays alive, because he has some reconciliation to do with Junmyeon.

As though catching onto his thoughts, Jongdae zaps him lightly with his powers, expressions reprimanding. “Don’t die on me now, hyung. I’m never going to forgive you if you do.”

Minseok manages to give a startled laugh at that. “Well, _alright then_. Let’s show him what we’re really made of. Nobody gets away with trying to take away the Tree of Life and playing around with the lives of the guardians of EXO Planet unscathed. Not even _former guardians._ ”

Kwangyeol lets out a shrill laugh. “I’d like to see you _try_.”

 

**

 

Jongin bristles irately as he narrowly dodges another trap set by Jongmin the moment he steps into a new dimension, wondering what on earth he’s done to deserve such an annoying doppelganger to deal with.

“Another hour is up,” Jongmin announces gleefully, and Jongin feels as though his heart is being pierced when Luhan cries out painfully after. He tries not to imagine what Jongmin’s doing to Luhan; the images are too much for him to bear.

Then Jongin nearly stops breathing when he finds trickles of blood on the floor when he enters the next dimension, with a strip of fabric that looks like it has been torn off Luhan’s shirt. Jongin bites down hard on his lower lip. He can’t understand why his older self would ever be able to hurt Luhan like this, but then he remembers that Jongmin is crazy out of his mind and Jongin hopes to himself that no matter what happens, he never, ever becomes this deranged.

_Hyung? What’s happening over there?_ He reaches out to Luhan’s mind in the hope that he’ll get some kind of answer but he’s met with silence and Jongin figures that it must be Jongmin blocking him off. Fuck.

Jongin squeezes his eyes shut and continues on his fervent prayer that Luhan isn’t seriously hurt.

 

**

 

“What do you _want_ with me? Why are you doing this?” Luhan grits out in frustration when he feels his message to Jongin fall through. They’ve obviously underestimated the man who has him hostage; he has _other_ powers apart from the ones he shares with Jongin, he’s sure, but Luhan can’t seem to figure out _why_. The pain coming from the wound on his left arm is doing nothing but distracting him from thinking, and he winces when Jongmin applies some pressure on it.

“I want _you_ of course,” Jongmin looks at him as if Luhan is the crazy one and not the other way around. “And as for why I’m doing this, it’s because it’s _fun_.” A smile tugs at his lips and there’s a woozy expression in his eyes that makes Luhan want to lurch back, but the iron grip around his arm holds strong.

_You’re insane_ , Luhan wants to say, but he holds his tongue; Jongmin probably knows it already. When another thought forms in his mind, Luhan begins to think that _he’s_ going crazy himself. “What happened to the other Luhan?” He asks regardless. “Wh-why is he dead?” He swallows at the dark expression that crosses over Jongmin’s face.

“He was still alive when we arrived here. But the travel between alternate universes was too much for his body and he faded away slowly.” _Travelling between alternate universes,_ Luhan thinks faintly, wondering how the hell they had managed that. Jongmin must have been a hell lot more powerful than Jongin had been back then, if they had managed to get to the Earth _here_ rather than back within their own universe. Obviously they should never have ended up here at all.

“It was a mistake. It shouldn’t have happened,” Jongmin mutters darkly, answering the running queries in Luhan’s mind. “It was _my_ fault we ever ended up here, and you had to pay the price for it.” Luhan’s suddenly terrified of Jongmin’s statement, thinking that Jongmin’s going to inflict more serious injuries on him for his careless questions, but then he realises that Jongmin thinks _he’s_ the Luhan Jongmin himself has lost. He takes a deep breath, wondering if Jongmin will even buy it if he pretends to be that other Luhan.

“But I’m here _now_ , and I’m safe, so you don’t have to keep doing this. You don’t have to go after the Tree of Life anymore, right?” He hopes that he’ll be able to convince Jongmin to at least sit out of their battles, because the man is _powerful_ in his own right to jump from one dimension to another without even breaking a sweat _and_ he’s got telekinetic powers to boot.

“No. _No,_ we still need the Tree of Life. We need it to revive the others and get back to our universe. I need Luhan to help me. You’re my Luhan but you’re not _my_ Luhan,” Jongmin sniffs and it is so characteristic of Jongin that Luhan has to turn his head away in an attempt to unsee that. “Don’t think I don’t know that, because I _do_.”

“I can be your Luhan, if you promise me that you’ll stop. You can stay here, in this dimension. You don’t have to go back.” Luhan swallows, hoping Jongmin doesn’t see through his lies. His breath hitches when Jongmin stills and stares into his eyes, the hope flickering in them.

“Do you really think so?” Jongmin’s arms go around his shoulders and warning bells go off in Luhan’s head. Luhan nods, swallows the bile that threatens to spill out of his throat and the uneasy feeling in his stomach.

“Yes.” He whispers, and Jongmin’s lips descend onto his and Luhan stiffens in his arms, going completely still before he responds, but it’s one moment too late and Jongmin pushes him away, snarling.

“ _Liar! You liar! You’ll never be my Luhan! Never!_ ” He grabs at the Seer’s arm again and the disorienting feeling of jumping dimensions makes Luhan dizzy, and he’s slightly freaked out now by Jongmin’s anger.

“But if I can’t have you, then no one will. Not even your Jongin. _I’m going to keep you forever_.”

The dark promise in Jongmin’s words doesn’t bode well for Luhan _at all_.

 


	38. {37} bloodshed

Zitao bends over backwards just in time when the tip of Jisuk’s blade nearly takes out one of his eyes, and he recovers and sweeps his leg beneath the man to bring him down onto the dirt. He grits his teeth in concentration, trying hard to read Jisuk’s next move, all while making sure he puts maximal distance between him and Jisuk. It’s one thing to be fighting against _himself_ , and it’s another to try to read into Jisuk’s plans, and to counter it before he gets himself killed. And, power nullification, as Zitao has learned, is taxing as hell on his body.

Just as he has been trying to speed up time so that he can at least have a higher chance at striking heavier blows at the man, Jisuk is managing to _slow_ him down at the same time so that they continue fighting at normal speed, in real time, but Zitao is getting tired more rapidly than he thought he would. He snarls and does a backflip just as Jisuk swipes at him, and he can literally feel the blade pass through a few strands of his hair. The man smirks at him and dashes towards him again, and Zitao hastily brings up his own weapon to parry the harsh blow.

“The outcome of this fight is clear, don’t you think?” Jisuk taunts, easily sidestepping Zitao’s counterattack, showing off his superiority in terms of the control of their abilities. “I know you’re not one to give up easily, but you don’t really have a choice.”

“As if I would,” Zitao scoffs, before a smug smile reaches his lips. “Besides, I’ve always wanted to know how it’d be like, kicking my own ass.” He surprises even himself when he manages to gain the upper hand at time control, slowing Jisuk down enough to leave a small cut in Jisuk’s side. Jisuk snarls at the contact between metal and skin.

The expression in the man’s eyes turn cold at his defiance. “Suit yourself then.” He says simply, and Zitao feels as though he’d been hit in the chest by a fucking _boulder_ when Jisuk lands a heavy-handed punch on him. He coughs hard, not expecting the magnitude and the force behind Jisuk’s punch, and he’s pretty sure there’s going to be a nasty bruise later.

“What’s wrong?” Jisuk sneers when Zitao gasps for breath. “Didn’t your master train you enough to withstand that hit?”

That touches a nerve in Zitao, and he decides to end things faster just so he could shut his older, more deranged self up. “Less talking, more fighting.” He huffs, and speeds up his own time while trying to land a hit on Jisuk in retaliation. Zitao smirks when his knuckles catches the angle of Jisuk’s jaw and sends him sprawling backwards, and Zitao quickly brings his sword down upon Jisuk before the man can even recover from his earlier attack.

He curses when his sword bites into the dirt instead of flesh as Jisuk rolls away just in the nick of time. Zitao is not bloodthirsty by any means, but he had rather hoped to land a incapacitating, if not fatal blow on the man so that the fight could end faster.

Zitao is taken by surprise again when someone hits him square in the back, and he _knows_ it’s not Jisuk because the man is busy dusting off his suit ahead of him. His eyes widen when he finds himself face to face with Yifan’s dragon form. He doesn’t get to ask how Yifan had ended up being so close to him, but he gets his answer when a huge fireball comes crashing down on them and Zitao freezes its time for him to move out of the way before he’s burnt into crisp.

The words _‘a little warning would be nice’_ hangs on his tongue, promptly swallowed when he sees Chanyeol’s newly-awakened Phoenix form hovering in the air not far away from where Yifan and him are at, and he instinctively knows that they’re in huge trouble.

“ _Shit_ , _”_  Zitao mutters because it looks like all their fights have melded together now into a huge mess and a free-for-all as he ducks under a thunder bolt thrown by Youngmin and almost gets impaled by one of Minseok’s ice javelins – _sorry, Zitao!_. It’s flat out chaos when Junmyeon sends him a wave to step on and he uses it to propel himself upwards towards Woojung’s dragon form, sword outstretched to gut him but it only grazes off his scales with a scintillating sound.

Laughing sardonically, Woojung swats at him with his wing, flinging Zitao off Junmyeon’s wave and sending him crashing painfully onto the ground. He curses when he feels the bone in his left arm snap from the bad landing, but he bites down on his lower lip and swallows the pained cry threatening to escape. It’s a show of weakness, and he’s not going to give their enemies the satisfaction of seeing him suffer.

He freezes the time of another fireball heading towards Yifan while trying to keep himself together, and he sends a thankful smile at Junmyeon who senses Zitao’s inner struggle and dissipates it with a water ball of his own. But they’re stunned when Youngmin summons a thunderstorm over the group, the lightning flashing menacingly in the dark clouds.

“Playtime is over, you pesky little bugs. If you refuse to hand the Tree over, I’ll just kill off _every single one_ of you and get it myself.”

Chanyeol laughs, trying to put up a brave front even though he’s worried as hell deep within. “You don’t even know where the Tree is. Isn’t that why you wanted to get it through us in the first place?”

There's a sudden appearance of black smoke and then Jongmin appears with a knocked out Luhan in his arms and the guardians tense visibly, especially put off by the triumphant smirk on the deranged man's face. The way Jongmin has his arms down Luhan’s front, hugging him from behind, does not go unnoticed by the guardians. The gesture is so intimate that several of them had to turn away.

"Oh, but I have Luhan here with me and _he_ knows."

Jongin stumbles into view a second later, breathless and chest heaving as if he's been running a marathon; it certainly feels that way, what with having jumped through numerous dimensions in an attempt to get Luhan back.

“What are you talking about?” Baekhyun blurts, glancing between Jongmin and Jongin. Jongin appears completely harassed, though there’s a renewed sense of fear in his eyes.

Woojung smirks when he realises what was going on. “They haven’t told you _anything_ , have they?”

Junmyeon looks at the way Jongin swallows as he glances between Luhan and the rest of the guardians and he _knows_. It wasn't long ago that he'd been in such a situation after all, and while he can't condone the fact that neither Jongin nor Luhan had told them that they had found the Tree, it also made sense to him _why_ they hadn't. After all, the less people who knew about it, the better, and thus the less probability that they might accidentally leak the information to Youngmin's group.

Neither of them had factored in the possibility that Luhan would get captured, unfortunately.

"Oh, Jongin." Junmyeon sighs, and the younger boy shifts guiltily.

“Feeling betrayed, aren’t you?” Jongmin drawls, pressing his lips against Luhan’s skin as he watches the group of guardians. He shoots a satisfied smirk at Jongin when the guardian tenses up at his actions. “Why don’t you do something about it? I know you want to.”

Yifan speaks up, voice confident because he had already more or less figured out that it might possibly be the Seer's and the Shadow Walker's course of action if they had indeed found the Tree.

"You forget that although we might have the same powers, the same training, the same identities, and in some cases even the same relationships, we are _not_ you, and we have a stronger bond of trust and brotherhood than you lot do. I mean, just look at the difference between all of you and Sooman-sajangnim. We might have our differences in opinion, and some things are necessary, like why Junmyeon didn't tell us about his deal with you because of Jongdae's life being threatened, and why Luhan or Jongin didn't tell us that they found the Tree."

Youngmin doesn’t seem to be fazed by Yifan’s words. Instead, he smiles dangerously, the electric current crackling at the tips of his fingers. “When there comes a time when you’re desperate to fight for your own survival, you’ll forget that these bonds ever happened. I’m sure of it.”

"Don't hold your breath." Chanyeol quips. He may not exactly be happy with all the secrets that have been kept lately, but like Yifan, he understands the _why_ of it even though he doesn't like it.

“Let’s test my theory out now, shall we?” Youngmin flashes a feral grin, and unleashes the thunderstorm that has been brewing all this while upon them.

Junmyeon and Minseok stand side-by-side and instead of retorting verbally, Junmyeon summons two globes of water that are growing steadily larger in his hands as ice bolts grow in Minseok’s hands. The two globes soon merge to form a large whirling ball of water and Minseok touches a hand to the surface of it, the ice disappearing in to mix with the rapidly swirling water inside.

The water guardian grunts with effort as he heaves the massive water globe towards the rapidly building thunderstorm that Kyungsoo shields the rest of them from it with huge planes of rock wherever they are standing. It hurtles towards the group of men and Jongdae throws a thunderbolt at it which makes it explode, hurtling ice and debris everywhere, shards flying past and leaving cuts on a few of them.

But Youngmin is relentless, and he throws one thunderbolt after the other at the group, not showing the slightest hint of easing down on his attacks. The rest of his friends stand aside to watch Youngmin with amused smirks on their faces, though Jisuk engages Zitao in a head on fight, picking up where they have left off earlier.

It is much harder for Zitao to maintain the level of speed that he had used earlier, and he is mindful of his broken arm as he holds off Jisuk with his right, the impact jarring as the man’s weapon grinds down onto his sword before he jumps back only to bring the blade of his _guan dao_ down with swift, harsh force once again.

His attempts at slowing Jisuk’s attacks down are as immovable as before, but he doesn’t miss the way that Jisuk’s breathing is become harsher, heavier as well, more laboured than it had been earlier. Zitao presses on despite the pain in his arm that is swinging uselessly by his side, hoping that he can wear Jisuk out before he gets worn out first. He knows Jisuk is close to his limits, because Zitao experiences the same effects when he’s exhausted from using his powers excessively, but Zitao wants to pride himself at having a better stamina than Jisuk does.

“What’s wrong, old man? Had enough yet?” He taunts brazenly, hoping to piss off Jisuk so that he might actually drop his guard and react recklessly. From experience, he knows that it’ll probably take some time to wind the man up, but when he does retaliate, it will be swift and reckless.

Jisuk plays right into his hands, sooner than Zitao had expected. “Fuck you, brat. I wouldn’t be too happy until the fight is actually over if I were you.” The blows that rain down on him are a lot harsher and have less finesse, and Zitao knows then that Jisuk is no longer using his powers of time manipulation.

“That’s my line, old man. You’ve been around too long.” He ducks a sideswipe at his nose and darts forward with his sword, hoping against hope that Jisuk won’t notice the amount of power he is using for time manipulation and he smirks darkly when the man is caught in midair, shock in his eyes apparent before Zitao’s sword goes clean through his abdomen. Zitao himself is slightly shocked because he had half-expected his attempt to fail.

Zitao quickly pulls his sword out before more damage is done, and he flicks his sword to get the blood off its gleaming surface, watching with slight concern when Jisuk clutches his abdomen and sinks to his knees, looking more ashen-faced than before. He’s torn between going forth to check on his counterpart’s injuries and staying put, because who knows what Jisuk would do if he got too close. There isn’t long to wait because there is a roar of anguish before Woojung lands next to Jisuk in his dragon form and then rapidly changes back into human form as he cradles the other man in his arms.

Sehun is beside Zitao soon enough, hand in the small of the older boy’s back as Zitao breathes heavily with exertion. Sehun’s hand is at the ready with a small whirlwind, ready to unleash it at any given second, but Zitao holds him back, much to Sehun’s confusion.

“No,” Zitao says softly, the enormity of his actions only beginning to dawn on him. The actual shock of what he’s done will probably come later. “I don’t think they’ll attack.” The wound at his abdomen is steadily staining Jisuk’s clothes a brilliant shade of crimson as he presses a hand against it in an attempt to staunch the bleeding, but it’s clear to see that he is slowly bleeding out, even while Woojung is tearing pieces of his sleeve to use them as a makeshift bandage.

Closing his eyes in a silent prayer for Jisuk, Zitao wraps his hand around Sehun’s wrist, and solemnly walks off to join the rest of the guardians in their fight, leaving Jisuk and Woojung to their own moment of peace. It’s too late for him to do anything, or to regret his actions now.

“Are _you_ okay?” Sehun presses instead, and Zitao graces him with a wan smile.

“For now, yes. Ask me again later and the answer might be a bit different though.” He takes a deep breath and squeezes the wind guardian’s wrist lightly before letting go. “Let’s focus on getting out of here alive first.”

Sehun nods firmly and deftly blocks an incoming ball of light from Songhyun with a whirlwind of his own, knocking it to the side. His eyes narrow grimly when the ball of light burns another large hole on the ground, and he’s determined not to get hit by any of them.

“Yes, let’s.”

“Try not to injure anyone else seriously if you can help it,” Zitao mutters, though Sehun suspects Zitao’s telling it to himself rather than Sehun.

They meld back into the rest of the battle, taking more defensive and supportive roles as Zitao is almost completely drained of his powers and his energy is flagging, and Sehun is loath to leave him by himself because the guardian of time is pretty much a sitting duck. Despite Zitao’s silent protests, Sehun takes it upon himself to protect Zitao from incoming attacks and turning on the offense when the opportunity presents itself.

To their left, Junmyeon’s still parrying Youngmin’s and Kwangyeol’s attacks aimed at the group, and he’s pushed close to his limits. He’s not used to having to use his powers continuously, and it’s putting a great strain on his body. In fact, all of them are pretty drained because of how long the battle has been going on, and the amount of power that they’ve been having to use on their attacks. If they don’t finish this off soon, then they’d be at the mercy of the former guardians, even though the older group themselves are starting to look more than a little harassed that the battle has gone on as long as it has, and both Woojung and Jisuk are out of the fight currently.

“It’s wiser if you just gave up now.” Youngmin taunts. “We have Luhan in our hands. Are you sure you want to fight on?”

Junmyeon’s eyes flicker towards the location where Jongmin was holding Luhan hostage, only to find that the pair is missing. He hopes that Jongin, who’s busy fighting Kwangyeol, doesn’t notice it, because it wouldn’t do them any good if Jongin succumbs into a mindless panic. As secretive as Jongin and Luhan are with their relationship, Junmyeon’s sure Jongin cares _a lot_ about Luhan.

“Giving up now wouldn’t change anything at all and we won’t abandon Luhan to your schemes.” Junmyeon intones quietly. “Luhan wouldn’t want that either.”

“This is your last warning.” Youngmin grounds out, and when Junmyeon retaliates insistently, the last of his patience runs out. “You’re as stubborn as before. It’ll only lead to your eventual death.”

“I don’t know what happened between you and the Junmyeon in your world but I’m inclined to think that he died doing the right thing. Which is more than can be said for you.” The water guardian says steadily. It touches a raw nerve in Youngmin, and he throws a succession of two lightning bolts at Junmyeon, one which catches him on his leg and sends Junmyeon stumbling to the ground in pain.

“Right thing or not, he died for it. As will you.” Youngmin intones before letting loose with lightning bolts that Junmyeon barely evades and he grits his teeth with the ineffective water walls he puts up, making sure that his palms aren’t in direct contact with the walls. Youngmin’s lightning bolts are sure to be at full power and he isn’t likely to pull his shots, unlike Jongdae. It isn’t much, but at least it staves off some of the bite of Youngmin’s lightning bolts, until Kyungsoo forms a wall of earth in front of him that allows him to get up and retreat from the line of fire to a safer distance.

“Hyung, watch out above you!” Jongin shouts then, and Junmyeon looks up just in time to see a massive fireball coming from the direction of Woojung, who’s back in his dragon form now and up in the air. Zitao pales at the sight, knowing by instinct that Jisuk has succumbed to his injuries, and it doesn’t make him feel any better.

Chanyeol lets loose a fireball in an attempt to counter it but the black blaze of fire from the enraged dragon is more than a match for the fire guardian’s attack, and it gets blotted out as if it had never been launched in the first place. Kyungsoo erects another wall of earth when Woojung launches his next attack, but the Earth Guardian had underestimated the strength of Woojung’s attack, which is much stronger than the ones before, and it crashes through the protective wall with relative ease.

The blood drains from the guardians’ faces at the fast approaching fireball, thinking that this is truly their end. The impending heat is growing hotter against their skin as it looms closer, their powers flickering low and all out of ideas on how to even block it because the fireball is _massive_ enough to practically blot out the whole horizon and Youngmin’s triumphant look is telling.

All of them are not unscathed and Yifan and Chanyeol transform into their dragon and phoenix forms respectively, and the guardians hold their breath as both of them release fireballs that meld together, a last ditch attempt to try to stave off Woojung’s black fire. It seems to slow slightly against their combined attack, but Woojung’s fire eats through it and both the guardians change back to their human form against their will, exhausted from the expenditure of their power.

Just as they thought they were done for, a strong wall of earth appears right above them, narrowly blocking off the fireball from swallowing them whole. The guardians shoot a confused look at Kyungsoo, who looks just as confused as they are, and they turn around when a familiar voice booms across the field.

“Taking advantage of the situation when these kids are nowhere near fit enough to fight against you? I knew you used underhanded tactics to get your way, Youngmin, but I never knew you were _this_ low.”

When they turn in the direction of the voice, they are shocked to see Lee Sooman walking over with Yixing in tow.

“Hi, guys, I’m back!” Yixing chirps before going to the most injured guardian as if he’s already expecting this to have happened. Yifan raises his eyebrow at Yixing, because he doesn’t look too concerned about the extent of injuries they’ve sustained, and his eyes cut towards the nasty abrasion he has on his arm, wondering what Yixing would say about that.

“ _Traitor_ ,” Youngmin hisses beyond the earth wall as Woojung’s fireball continues to sizzle against Sooman’s wall, but it stands steadfast against the heat.

“I told you, I’d fight against you if you refused to forget about your plans,” Sooman’s voice carries over the wall to Youngmin and the other former guardians on the other side of it.

“And now, you’ll have to fight someone who _can_ give back the kind of heavy damage that you cause.” There’s a sharp, determined edge in Sooman’s voice that tells the boys that he isn’t going to back down at all.

His eyes take in a cursory glance at their injuries and he smiles at them, flapping his hands in a movement that looks so eerily Kyungsoo-like. “Hurry up and go while I hold them off. You’ve practically used up all your powers already haven’t you? I’ll take care of this.”

“But you can’t possibly fight against four of them all alone!” Kyungsoo protests, eyes wide in fear for his counterpart’s safety.

Sooman only smiles wistfully. “I know their weaknesses far better than you do. Go on, I’ll see you guys at your dorm tonight. I promise.” He says, and there’s a renewed sense of urgency when his wall of earth protests soundly against Woojung’s fireball. It isn’t going to hold any longer.

“ _Go!_ ” He commands, summoning another layer of earth as reinforcement.

Kyungsoo and Yixing look fairly reluctant, but Jongin beckons them all to gather together and he’s at the centre of a circle while the rest of them reach out to grab onto him, like the spokes of a wheel.

“Before you go, let me just tell you that it is so good to see all of you working together and don’t forget that even through the hard times that may follow, your bonds and trust in each other are what will help pull you through,” Sooman imparts gravely.

“Don’t end up being like us,” he says, voice heavy with regret.

“Now, _go!_ ” He demands again as his earth wall cracks even more ominously this time and the guardians can see licking flames of black just before Jongin transports all of them back into their dorms.

The wall finally crumbles and Woojung’s fireball rolls forward as Sooman stands steadfast against it.

_Thank you for everything_ , he communicates to Yixing through his mind channel.

_Goodbye._

The complex explodes in a fireball of black.

 


	39. {38} TURNBACK: memories of a distant past

**_13th February_ **

 

With much praise to the Protectors, and thanks to their blessings, I have completed the training to be a guardian. I never thought it was possible, but I guess Minseok hyung was right when he said we would make it through, _together_.

I may have lost my original family, but I have found a new one.

 

**

 

**_2nd February_ **

 

Slowly, the other guardians are gravitating towards each other, in a way that can only happen between two people. Suho and Chen are the first, and they think no one can hear them at night, but honestly, we are depending on ear plugs just to fall asleep. At the very least, they’ve gotten the hang of blocking off their minds when they’re... _physically preoccupied_ with each other, but it’s too bad they can’t do anything about the physical sound.

I don’t know what Suho hyung is doing but Chen is just really, really, _really_ loud. Chen only turns a deep shade of red when Kai suggests that Suho hyung should gag Chen up. I think he even choked on his saliva, but Suho hyung just smiles mysteriously.

They get even louder that night.

We have learnt to leave them to their own devices so that it doesn’t give the rest of us insomnia.

It is a very good thing that the priests’ quarters are in another building otherwise... well, I don’t really want to know the consequences of that. Maybe our Guardianship would have been revoked altogether.

I think Lay hyung blocks off the sound and that it’s such a normal thing nowadays, he does it so naturally without thinking.

...At least the priests can get some sleep, good for them.

On another note, Lay hyung seems to think there’s something going on between Luhan hyung and Kai, but they are too secretive for anyone to get any information out of them. It’s amusing to watch the rest trying to come up with a plan to make them confess about their relationship.

Life as a guardian is enjoyable.

 

**

 

**_20th January_ **

 

He doesn’t ever see me. All he sees is Suho hyung.

I’m tired.

Will he ever notice me the way I want him to?

 

**

 

**_6th October_ **

 

I was never a person who’d be afraid of things, not since I have been tasked with the responsibility of being a Guardian of EXO Planet. But this, this is scaring me.

It isn’t like Suho and Chen to be involved in such a heated argument. They’ve always been close, _intimate_ even, and sure there are squabbles every now and then, but this is by far the worst I’ve seen. Suho’s swearing and screaming at Chen, and that says a lot.

Neither of them can stand the sight of each other now. But none of them want to share what has happened with us either. Please tell me this will blow over soon. I can’t stand seeing Minseok hyung being sad because of the situation between Suho and Chen.

If only he knew.

 

**

 

**_2nd February_ **

 

EXO Planet is deteriorating slowly. No one knows what’s happening. No one can figure out _why_ this is happening. The trees are starting to die, the flowers wilting. Everything looks half-dead now, and the water supplies are running dry.

Luhan’s always on the edge, and everyone’s anxious because of that, too. He seems to forget that his mood carries over to everyone else, ever since our mind channels have converged. No one has the heart to remind him; we’re in this together. We ought to share the burden.

Kai’s oddly shut off. He doesn’t spend as much time with Luhan anymore. I wonder why. He looks like he can’t stand being in the same room as Luhan. He keeps phasing out of sight when Luhan’s within a 50-meter radius from him. Kai and Luhan have never announced or admitted to their relationship, but I can guess as much. Luhan always looks longingly after him when Kai disappears. I wish they’d stop doing this.

Chen _still_ isn’t speaking to Suho. It adds on to the depression we’re going through. It’s been five months since they’ve fought. Even if they’re not tired of casting murderous glances at each other (more Chen than Suho) whenever they cross paths, _I_ am. But who am I to interfere? Even Minseok hyung has given up on them.

I wish we could all be happy again, like we once were.

It seems unlikely.

 

**

 

**???**

 

The priests have evacuated most of the people on the planet. I don’t know where they are or what planet other than this they have landed on. _Is_ there another planet like this they can evacuate to? The Tree is still dying and nothing that we do seems to be helping at all. Its slow death feels as if it’s creeping into my bones, slow and aching and I think that maybe I’m the only one who ever comes out here anymore to sit beside it, and listen to it because everyone else seems too wrapped up in their own troubles.

I wonder if Luhan Saw this coming at all.

I wonder when we started falling apart, because nowadays the bond between all of us is strained and it feels as if it’s been pulled taut.

I feel as if we are back to being where we were when we first became Guardians, only this feels so much worse, because we aren’t supposed to be strangers anymore, not so cold, and definitely not like _this_.

It makes wonder if the Tree started dying because of _us_ , because of the discordance between us Guardians. If it is really true then it won’t be long before our whole planet is gone, and I can’t even begin to express how sorry I am that we have failed to protect our planet because of our own failed personal relationships.

If anyone ever reads this, I am so, so sorry.

 

**

 

**???**

 

We somehow managed to get to Earth, but I think that the price that was paid was more than I even thought we would have to sacrifice.

Minseok hyung is dead.

We’ve lost Suho hyung, Lay hyung, and Sehun too, and it doesn’t seem like Luhan hyung will make it through the week. The toll of moving so many of us through different dimensions and universes by accident is evidently greater than anything Luhan hyung has had to go through before this and Zitao’s powers are practically drained dry, but thankfully he is alive and well, albeit a bit weaker, but Kris hyung is looking after him well.

I’m worried about Kai most. He’s on the verge of losing it. I’ve never seen him cuddling Luhan hyung so openly, but it’s not in a good way. Everyone is weary and exhausted.

Baekhyun and Chanyeol are rarely seen apart from each other, and they seem the most intact at all, lucky for them.

Chen is... Chen is.

There’s a complete stranger there, I don’t think any of us knows him anymore. I don’t think they ever resolved what happened between them and now.

Now, it never will be.

 

**

 

**???**

 

Luhan hyung is gone. Kai’s sanity has gone with him.

Before he slipped away, he had asked both Kai and Baekhyun to come closer, that he had something to tell them, but it seems as though this ‘telling’ is more of him transferring his own powers between the both of them, so now in addition to their own powers of shadow and light respectively, they also have the additional telepathic and telekinetic powers that Luhan hyung had.

Far be it from me to be jealous because I am more than satisfied with what I have, but I don’t think it was a good idea to give so much power to Kai when he is this unstable.

He probably meant to give Kai a way to remember him by, but I am afraid that Luhan hyung might have inadvertently made a huge mistake.

I hope that I am wrong.

 

**

 

**????**

 

Chen is crazy.

He plans on tapping into Kai’s unstable powers and is going to attempt to bring the other guardians from this dimension to Earth. He somehow found out that the newest set of guardians are currently in training on the planet in this universe. I don’t know how he’s going to accomplish it, but I don’t like the sound of it at all. Kai seems overly enthusiastic about this.

I don’t wish to witness a repeat of what had happened to us. It’s not savoury. It’s not right that they should suffer what we had to go through either. Having one set of insane guardians is more than enough.

Kris hyung suggested that we should open up an artiste management company and mask our identities with Baekhyun’s illusions. What are they up to?

How did we go from guardians to being like this?

I really, really don’t like this. Can’t we just live in peace?

 

**

 

**????**

 

I was right. Luhan hyung’s decision in giving Kai half of his powers was a bad – no, _terrible_ – judgement on his part. Kai is far too powerful, yet far too unstable to be in full control of it. And now that Chen has found a way to bend Kai to his will...

They’re trying to intercept the Guardian of Fire and Flight’s mind channels. Apparently exact same copies of ourselves _can_ exist in different times in different dimensions. Baekhyun’s in this with them. They’re going to take the risk and assume that these guardians have the exact same relationship dynamics as we do, and Baekhyun’s going to exploit the Fire Guardian’s trust in him to do his bidding.

I overheard that they’re trying to revive our dead companions with the Tree. As tempting as the idea sounds... as much as I want Minseok hyung back...

This is insanity. Utter insanity.

I can’t stop them by myself right now, and I don’t have the reach to be able to communicate with the other guardians on the EXO Planet in this dimension to warn them.

I can only wait and hope that I can be of help to them when, _if_ they do indeed land here, and do what I can for them.

Let me at least prove to myself that I am still capable of being a Guardian, of at least being able to impart knowledge to them the only way I know how because everyone else has forgotten what it means to be a Guardian by now, of what it meant when we took those vows so long ago.

_I will not._

 

**

 

**????**

 

This is like a recurrent nightmare. Deja vu.

They destroyed the EXO Planet in this dimension by sabotaging the guardian of fire and the guardian of flight’s relationship with the rest of their group, the exact same way how our own planet fell into ruins.

Baekhyun says he can sense their presence on Earth, but no one knows for sure where they are. I suggested the idea that they might not have the Tree with them, but Baekhyun insists that it’s here. We just have to find it.

They say they’re trying to make up for their mistakes, but I don’t see how this is going to work. They’re just creating bigger ones by bringing the other guardians down with us.

Chen is long past the stage of listening to anyone else.

I can only hope that I can get to them before he does.

 

**

 

**????**

 

Fourteen years. It’s been fourteen years without any word about the other guardians.

Again, I suggested the idea that they might be dead, or that they did not survive the travel between planets, but I narrowly escaped from Chen’s wrath. There is unfortunately, a huge scorch mark no thanks to his thunder bolt in my room. I think I’ll just leave it there because I don’t want to get renovators in just to have them fix it – only for him to kill them off when they’re done with the job after. He doesn’t even have any qualms in killing one of our own now, let alone other unrelated people on this planet.

What has become of him? Did losing Suho hyung cause such a massive impact in his personality? Didn’t he hate Suho hyung’s guts to the ends of hell and back before our planet was destroyed?

Kai is no better off. His antics are getting worse and worse by the day, and I regret that I wasn’t able to catch him earlier before he killed that group of students. Although he claims that it was on accident, but the crazed light that I see in his eyes tells me otherwise. He is too powerful, too bored, and too dangerous and the only person he really listens to now is Chen, mostly because he is terrified of what Chen will do in retaliation. It has been like this since the time Chen ‘convinced’ Kai to help him out with his plans. Till this day, I still wonder what Chen did to him that has gotten him so scared.

Thankfully, Baekhyun can control Kai too, though not by force. I suspect Kai’s gravitating towards Baekhyun because he holds the other half of Luhan hyung’s powers. The others might not be bothered about it, but I’ve heard Kai call Baekhyun ‘Luhan’ several times now. It’s almost as though he thinks Baekhyun _is_ Luhan.

But it doesn’t matter, as long as he’s under control. I can’t bear the sight of trainees getting killed by Kai anymore. He’s been confined to the mansion now, only because Chen had been pissed off that some of the most promising trainees that he had wanted to debut were killed off in Kai’s little stunt. Baekhyun has somehow managed to dazzle their parents into believing that their children are undergoing training overseas, and will only be back after they are done.

I hope they know their lies aren’t going to hold for long.

I need to call for defense lawyers, just in case.

 

**

**????**

 

They found Suho. It’s unbelievable, how uncanny the resemblance is to the Suho I knew. He is talented, and there is a bright light that shines in his eyes, and the underlying determination that I recognise so well, and there is no question that he will pass the audition and stay in our agency. He is much younger than when I remembered him as when we first started our training as guardians, and from this, I think I can surmise that they must have been reborn into human bodies if they are as young as they are now.

The way Chen – _Youngmin_ , damn it – looks at him is a little worrying though. I hope he isn’t having any weird ideas.

At any rate, it doesn’t seem as though Suho has any recollection about his past life. I hope it stays that way. I don’t want him to get hurt.

But if they have found Suho, then it is only a matter of time until they find the others. This is only the beginning and I am going to do my best to help them as much as I can, right under Youngmin’s nose.

Take that, bastard.

 

**

 

**????**

 

Kai auditioned. It’s good to see him without the crazed look that I’ve gotten used to seeing on Jongmin’s face. He’s really good in dancing, and he’s made the cut.

I look forward to seeing him debut, but I’m not too sure whether they’ll live to see the day. Youngmin seems to want to step up with his plans once all the guardians are gathered.

I can feel the Tree’s presence in the country, but it’s weak. Not even Songhyun can locate it, and they’re thinking of utilising Kai and Luhan (assuming we _do_ find him) to get to it. They went through old texts that survived our trans-dimensional and trans-universal travel, and discovered that the Tree will only respond to those who were tasked to guard it.

Well. That certainly answers the question as to why we can never find it.

We can no longer call ourselves guardians in any capacity. Especially not after the people that Youngmin and Jongmin have inadvertently killed, especially not after the number of minds that have been altered by Songhyun and how Kwangyeol finds it fun to burn down the houses of some of our competitors under Youngmin’s command.

Now that the new guardians are being born, now that they are existing on this planet, I will no longer be writing using the guardian names that were given to us.

We are no longer worthy of them.

 

**

**????**

 

They’ve found Minseok now.

Seeing that round chubby face and quiet smile makes me miss the Minseok hyung from our universe so much.

It hurts. It’s bittersweet.

But it’s also amazing to be able to see his smile again, although it isn’t the Minseok hyung I know, he isn’t my Minseok hyung.

Still, I’ll do right by this child and teach him well, this tiny Minseok. I will do my Minseok hyung proud. I’m sure he’s watching over us, somewhere.

Suho, on the other hand, would probably be rolling in his grave.

 

**

 

**????**

 

Oh dear. Seeing myself as a youngster does seem weird. Have I always been such a wide-eyed boy in the past? I don’t even remember being _so clueless_. I do hope my counterpart will not turn out as an accident magnet. But it’s good that he’s close with Minseok. It would be nice if something good comes out of their relationship.

 

**

 

**????**

 

Their powers are emerging now.

I had hoped that they would lie dormant, but it seems as though it was all in vain. It is...endearing, to say the least, to see them experimenting with their powers in the practice rooms in their own time, to watch them grow, but there is a heavy weight in my heart because this just means that they will eventually have to stand against us, they will eventually remember and that they will need to get stronger in order to have a fighting chance of _winning_ at all.

Above all, I don’t think I am prepared to fight against myself, to fight against Minseok.

I must find some way around this.

They’re a group of very talented children. I want to see them debut, and achieve the success that is meant for them. But it doesn’t seem very likely.

  


**

 

**????**

 

The day I dread has finally arrived. All the guardians have gathered, and Youngmin is planning to attack them.

It is time for me to stop holding back, and to step up to the plate now.

But how do I begin convincing them that I’m here to help, not to harm them?

  


**

 

**????**

 

It’s a bad thing that the other group of guardians share the _exact_ same relationship dynamics with us. Youngmin is using it completely to his advantage. He knows how Suho will lose his mind and will do _anything_ to make sure Chen stays safe, and he’s exploiting it by kidnapping Chen and threatening Suho to help us locate the Tree by hanging a metaphorical blade above Chen’s head.

It hurts, seeing the despair in Suho’s eyes, and it hurts even more that Chen sees this as an act of betrayal and is shunning Suho out of his life. It’s like a repeat of the incident on our planet, of what happened between our Suho and Chen. This is not right.

I hope they manage to work this out, that they manage to get through this obstacle and become stronger from it because their relationship runs deeper than the one that existed between our Suho and Chen.

They are _marked_ , they are _inked_ , in a way that our Suho and Chen never were, and for them to have to go through _this_ – this kind of agony must be a million times worse. I can’t see the matching tattoos on their wrists that show the eternal bond that will last between them, lifetime after lifetime to come, but I can recognise it. I remember it, remember the way my parents were, a long, long time ago. It feels so far away, as if it was another lifetime ago.  

Please let them get through this.

 

**

 

**????**

 

They’re giving free reign to Jongmin to do whatever he wants to Luhan, _when_ they get their hands on him.

Protectors, please stop them. Someone. _Anyone._

 

**

 

 

Yixing; whoever else is reading this, I am entrusting this diary to you in hopes that you will gain some benefit from what has been written. It’s not by any means complete, I know, but at least you will have an idea of what had happened in the past, and what they’re trying to do to you in the near future.

I am sorry I lied. I won’t see you in your dorms after we have parted.

There simply isn’t a way for me to get out of that place alive.

This is my last stand, this is my last act as a Guardian of EXO Planet.

With this diary, you will find some rings included in the box. These are the rings which have granted us power on EXO Planet, years after we have graduated as official guardians. You were too young and too inexperienced when your planet was destroyed, so that might have been the reason why you were not in possession of these accessories.

These are not mere symbols of your powers as guardians. These rings are imbued with the strongest form of magic known to EXO Planet, and only few hold the secrets to them.

My colleagues have long since forgotten their existence, because they are strong enough without their help. At any rate, from the moment they began sinning, started with their merciless killing of innocent people, I consider that our positions as the guardians of EXO Planet as relinquished.

They are yours now, and I hope they will serve you well as they have served us in the past.

I know it is unfair of me to impose this upon you, but I hope that our sins can be washed away with your help.

I wish you well. Thank you for everything, for carrying on the legacy as guardians of EXO Planet.

Thank you, and goodbye.

It is time I rejoined the ones that we lost, so many years ago. They’ve been waiting for me, and it will be a relief, to be able to finally return home.

 

\-- _Excerpts from Lee Sooman’s diary_

 


	40. {39} falling apart

They fall back into their dorms with a jolt, groaning at the pain that wracks through injuries and Jongin’s less than graceful teleportation of them back into their living room, but it’s understandable since Luhan is still in Jongmin’s hands. He can’t stay focused enough, thoughts racing wildly with concerns over Luhan’s safety. It’s a wonder they even got back in one piece.

Jongin’s hair is matted against his forehead, face red and the touch of his skin feverish because of the overuse of his powers, and Yixing frowns at him and forces him back down onto the floor as he struggles to get up, obviously intent on diving back through dimensions in an attempt to get Luhan back as soon as possible.

“Stop that,” the Healer reprimands him. “You’ll only get yourself killed if you go rushing in like this!”

Jongin turns a deaf ear to Yixing’s words, and he struggles against Yixing’s weight on top of him. “ _I don’t care!_ ” He practically screams, eyes frantic. Jongin is tearful now, a mess of scrabbling limbs. “The madman has Luhan! He’s going to _kill Luhan_! I can’t just leave him there, _I can’t stand aside and watch him die!_ ”

Junmyeon marches right up to him and slaps him soundly across the cheek. “Get a grip on yourself, Jongin,” he intones seriously, surprising the rest of the guardians with his action. Junmyeon has never been one to indulge in such acts of aggression. It’s effective enough to stun Jongin into silence, though, so no one comments on it.

“With the amount of power Sooman-sonsaengnim had expended just now, I don’t think that building will even be _standing_ anymore, and you would just be wasting your energy on teleporting there. You’d be a sitting duck once you arrive, and _then_ where would we be? They could just as easily take you as well, and we’ve already seen that they aim to kill us all. If you went back right now, you would just be playing right into their hands.” The Water Guardian explains tiredly as he sits down on the floor beside Jongin.

“But Luhan-” the Shadow Walker chokes back his sobs, “-he’s badly injured. He doesn’t stand a chance against _them_. I can just teleport in, grab Luhan, and leave. I promise I won’t get caught. _Hyung_ , just let me go, _please_.”

“How would you even find them? Jongmin could easily jump through various dimensions again, and you don’t know how that would affect Luhan in the process, and with your energy as depleted as it is now, you’d get stuck there indefinitely.” Junmyeon leans in closer, his words only for Jongin’s ears now.

“Please understand, Jongin-ah. As long as Jongmin is with Luhan, they will keep him alive, because crazy as Jongmin is, he wouldn’t let anyone else touch or hurt Luhan and I’d have to say that he is a lot safer than Jongdae ever was in their hands. Can you believe in that? That Luhan will be strong enough to get through this and that he’ll be alive and well until we get to him?”

“I-” Jongin bites on his bottom lip hesitantly, before nodding once. Junmyeon barely manages to catch Jongin in his arms when the younger boy’s eyes suddenly roll upwards and slumps into a deep slumber, and he glances up to meet the smiling face of Yixing.

“I had to put him to sleep. He’s not going to calm down otherwise.”

Junmyeon smiles in return. “Thanks, I’ll keep an eye on him in the meantime. I think you should attend to the others. They seem to be in a pretty bad shape.”

Yixing glances at the rest, and shares Junmyeon’s sentiments. “Yeah, I think I should do just that. I’ve been away for too long, after all. You should get some rest too.” He doesn’t give Junmyeon the luxury of protesting, knocking the Water Guardian out with a warm hand on his shoulder.

“Hey!” Jongdae complains as he grabs onto the water guardian as he tilts sideways, catching his dead weight. Yixing happily puts him to sleep too, cutting off his protest.

He’ll deal with the angry protests later.

 

***

 

Yixing glances up with a smile when someone comes over and sits next to him, and he automatically leans into the person’s side, sighing at the sorely missed contact. It hasn’t ever bothered him before this, but now that he’s back, Yixing doesn’t think he ever wants to get separated from _him_ – or the rest of his friends – ever again. Seeing the extent of their injuries and having to attend to them has made Yixing realise how close he was to losing any one of them forever, and he isn’t prepared for that to happen.

“So, how did you get back here so fast anyway? With Sooman-sonsaengnim in tow, no less,” Yifan intones, enjoying the way Yixing is leaning against him, head fitting nicely against his shoulder. He’s missed this a lot, just sitting together as they talked while the Healer had been gone.

Yixing chuckles a little at the question. “He’s the one who found me, actually, and practically dragged me out of the hotel room at two in the morning. I’m just glad we made it in time.” He shoots a look at Yifan’s arm. “How’s your arm? Does it still hurt?”

The older boy winces slightly as he moves it, but smiles at Yixing regardless. “It’s alright, you healed it up the best that you could anyway. I’ll be fine, don’t worry about it.” He reassures Yixing quietly.

Yixing places his hand over Yifan’s injury and sends a warm wave of energy to it, trying to heal it up even more. “I’m sorry I wasn’t here when you guys needed me most. I’m sorry I ever left at all.” He says silently, not quite meeting Yifan in the eye. “You guys wouldn’t have had such serious injuries if I were there from the very beginning.”

“Hey, _hey_ , don’t beat yourself up over this because it wasn’t your fault at all and it’s not like you had any choice about it. I’m just glad you made it back in time, and honestly, it was probably better that you weren’t here because it was a rollercoaster ride just dealing with Junmyeon and Jongdae’s fallout.” Yixing’s eyes grow big at that; it was his first time hearing that the golden couple had actually had a fallout.  

“Our dorm burned down and Jongdae got kidnapped and... it was a huge mess, really. We were practically at each other’s throats and almost played completely into their hands,” Yifan summarises.

Yixing turns in his position to glance at Yifan seriously. “Why didn’t you _tell_ me?” He cries foul. “It’s not fair for you guys to deal with this and leave me in the dark. We’re a family, aren’t we?”

Yifan sighs. “And what would you have been able to accomplish with the information, Yixing? You were in _Japan_ , and you told me you were being watched. I didn’t want you to worry about that when you’re so far away, and I didn’t want you to get distracted by something that you couldn’t deal with when you should be looking after your own neck.”

“You still should have told me _something_ ,” Yixing grumbles slightly, but he knows Yifan is right. He couldn’t have done anything all the way from Japan without there having been repercussions to the rest of the guardians back in Korea.

“But I’m telling you now, aren’t I?” Yifan smiles Yixing’s favourite smile of his as he threads his fingers through Yixing’s hair, feeling the soft strands between his digits. “I’m glad you’re back.”

“This doesn’t mean that I’m not mad at you though,” the younger huffs even as he leans into Yifan’s touch.

“Well,” Yifan grins mysteriously as he leans in further, “I know what’s perfect to soothe your anger.” He’s about to close the distance between his and Yixing’s lips, when someone suddenly stumbles onto the balcony out of the darkness, startling them both. Yixing’s eyes widen when he recognises the person’s face.

“Jongin, what the fuck?!” He pushes a frowning Yifan away when the Shadow Walker tips forward off his feet, obviously exhausted. “How the fuck did you even wake up from my spell? That should have knocked you out for a good day at least.” He drags the younger boy onto a chair that he pulls out from the dining table, the sofa being completely occupied by both Junmyeon and Jongdae, while the rest of the floor in the living room has Kyungsoo and Minseok sprawled out. Sehun and Zitao had the sense to at least retire to their room before Yixing had put both of them into a healing sleep.

In an effort to appear smug, which turns into a horridly formed grimace instead, Jongin manages a weak laugh. “It’s not difficult to get over your spell if you put enough willpower into it, hyung.” Yixing looks as though he wants to cuff Jongin at the back of his head, if the boy didn’t already appear half-dead.

“Where have you _been_?” Yixing almost screeches at him, fussing over Jongin for any obscure injuries he might’ve added to himself. He then catches the dust on Jongin’s shoes, and he frowns at him. “You went back to the field, didn’t you? _Are you out of your mind_?”

“Give me a little credit, hyung,” Jongin pouts slightly. “At least I didn’t go right back straightaway.”

“That’s only because _I_ put you under after Junmyeon hyung managed to talk you out of it instead.” Yixing points out, and Jongin grins back unrepentantly before slumping over the dining table. “You could’ve gotten yourself _killed_ , Jongin. What are we going to do if you did? What are we supposed to tell Luhan _ge_ then?”

“He’s the reason why I even thought of going back at all.” Jongin mumbles, his expressions broken now. It’s almost as though he’s struggling just to keep himself together. “He’s not there. Where could he be?” He says in a quieter voice. Yixing takes that Jongin’s talking to himself.

“You know, Junmyeon was right; Luhan ge is safer as long as he’s with your doppelganger, so just rest up right now and get your energy back so that when we have a rematch you won’t be half dead.” Yixing chides him. Yifan returns from the kitchen just then, and Yixing glances up gratefully when a mug of hot chocolate slides onto the table in front of him and Jongin. “Thanks.”

Yifan smiles at him before he turns to Jongin. “Jongin, I understand your worries completely, but this isn’t the way to do things. You shouldn’t go running around alone, without at least letting us know where you’re going. What if something happened to you?”

The second youngest out of all of them looks chastised as he sighs out loud. “I was going to be really fast, really.” He looks away from Yifan’s knowing look. “I _was!_ ” He protests.

“And? What were you planning on doing when you do find Luhan? With all the other guardians there, too.” Yifan asks. “You don’t stand a chance against them when you’re alone. _We_ barely stood a chance against them, even when we were all gathered together.”

“Sooman-sonsaengnim had to put his everything into standing against them alone,” Yixing intones quietly. He palms a leather-covered spiral-bound notebook that has obviously seen better days. “He told me there was some information in here that he hoped would help us a lot.” He looks at the book, turning it over in his hands and gingerly opening it. “He told me to look after it well because... because he said he thought he wasn’t going to come back from this battle this time.” Yixing swallows hard.

“I don’t think he’s coming back either,” Jongin informs. “The field was wiped out. Completely. Even the small hills were levelled.”

“Sooman-sonsaengnim?” Yifan chances the question. He gulps when Jongin only shakes his head solemnly.

“It was completely deserted and it was all debris and dust. I think...I don’t think there was anything left at all,” Jongin says painfully.

“Shit.” Yixing cusses under his breath. He wipes his face down, suddenly exhausted. “ _Shit_.”

Yifan decides that it’s a good time for him to change the conversation topic, because any more of this negativity, and he’s going to break down as well. He reaches for the leather-bound book and gently removes Yixing’s arm from it. “I guess we should start reading this, and see whether we can find anything that can help us.”

Yixing follows him docilely to the other unoccupied sofa when Yifan tugs at his wrist.

 

***

 

“Jongmin, can you keep your hands off the boy for a fucking moment? You’re making me sick,” Kwangyeol spits in disgust, turning his sights away from Jongmin and the boy lying unconscious on the bed. The taller man hisses as Songhyun bandages his stomach wound tightly where Minseok’s ice spear had gone through earlier.

“If you feel sick then stop staring, pervert,” Jongmin says almost serenely, eyes still on Luhan’s unconscious form.

“I’m not the one staring at an unconscious boy like a pervert,” Kwangyeol snipes back. “Ow, _fuck_ , can’t you be a bit gentler?” He swears when Songhyun tightens the bandages a little more and Songhyun rolls his eyes instead.

“Suck it up. I don’t see you complaining when we get a little rough in bed. Now stop sniping at each other before I burn a fucking hole in your thigh.” Kwangyeol’s pout and snarl to that could almost be called endearing, but he and Songhyun are long past the stage of their relationship, if it can even be called that at all.

Jongmin duly ignores the pair. He runs his fingers along the unconscious boy’s jawline, admiring his facial features up close. “Luhan really hasn’t changed at all. He’s still so _beautiful_. Do you think he’ll mind if I kissed him while he’s passed out?”

“I’m pretty sure it’s against the law to sexually assault minors,” Kwangyeol points out helpfully in between sniping back at Songhyun.

“What are you talking about? Luhan’s older than I am.” He doesn’t see the looks that are exchanged by Songhyun and Kwangyeol because he’s too busy staring at Luhan’s lips. Songhyun and Kwangyeol only stares at him, both weirded out by Jongmin.

“No, he’s not. This is not the Luhan hyung we know, Jongmin. Get a fucking grip.” Youngmin walks into the room then, dusting off his hands and looking marginally annoyed at the younger man. Woojung follows in behind him, holding the completely lifeless Jisuk in his arms. His expressions show no hint of the sadness of losing someone so dear to him, but Songhyun knows better.

“Now that we’ve finally gotten Sooman out of our hair, let’s get Jisuk buried first,” Youngmin says, somewhat nicely considering his personality. Woojung and Jisuk have been his favourite people since they landed on this planet.

“We owe him that much at least.” He doesn’t notice the way Woojung bristles at his words.

“We lost two of our friends today. How many of us are you planning to sacrifice?” He asks quietly, the silent anger simmering beneath his words. “Are you ever going to stop?”

“If he had been able to control his powers properly then this wouldn’t have happened at all,” Youngmin says flippantly, as if Jisuk isn’t _dead_ and merely sleeping in Woojung’s arms, and Woojung is absolutely horrified by the comment.

The former Guardian of Flight is beginning to see why Sooman had decided to fight against them instead of _with_ them, because Youngmin cares about nothing _but_ the Tree and will stop at nothing to get it, whether or not the rest of them are sacrificed in the long run. He unfurls his wings in warning, because it’s the only way that Youngmin would ever take him seriously these days.

“Don’t you _dare_ talk shit about Jisuk when you know nothing about the control he has over his powers,” Woojung spits, lips curled into a snarl. “You know nothing about _us_. Not anymore.”

Youngmin turns around sharply at that, frowning at Woojung as though he’s just a simple nuisance instead of a fellow guardian. “Are _you_ planning to go against me too? If you are then let’s just make this simple and I’ll bury you right next to Jisuk.”

Woojung is so very angry right now because _why_ had it taken Jisuk’s death just to see how crazy – in a way even _worse_ , even than Jongmin’s insanity was – Youngmin was. This is the man that he had treated as a brother and watched him grow into this tyrant without doing anything about it at all, and he wonders if it was worth it in the end. The thought that Youngmin is treating them like chess pieces he could easily discard when he no longer had the need for them hurts more than Woojung had initially thought it would.

“You won’t get out of the fight alive and you _know_ it, _Jongdae_ ,” Woojung says, knowing that Youngmin hates hearing his birth name. Suho was the only one who ever called him by that name; it obviously bore some memories that Youngmin didn’t want to remember. Youngmin visibly flinches at the title, and he’s in Woojung’s face in a heartbeat, electricity crackling at his fingertips.

“Don’t you _ever_ call me by that name. _You have no right_.”

“And _you_ don’t have a right to treat us like disposable trash. You can forget about counting me into your plans. I’m out of here.” Woojung says with finality and stares Youngmin down. The vase closest to the door explodes into shards, courtesy of Youngmin’s thunderbolt when Woojung walks out of the mansion without giving as much as a second glance.

He whips around when he hears a snicker from behind, his eyes narrowed threateningly at the trio left with him. “Are you three planning to walk out too?” He snarls. “I’ll fucking rip your throats out if you are.”

“Nope.” Jongmin quips, oblivious to the threat hanging in the air. His eyes remain transfixed on Luhan’s sleeping form. “I have Luhan with me now; what makes you think I’m going to leave him alone? I’m going to make up for lost time.”

Songhyun shrugs as if Youngmin hasn’t actually threatened their very lives right then. “I’ve got nothing better to do, so I’m here for the long haul. Kwangyeol is too,” He answers for the other man before he can even open his mouth, eyes sliding towards him with a look that promises that he’ll make good on his promise to burn a hole into the other man’s thigh if he doesn’t cooperate. Kwangyeol only looks at him, expressions deadpan before he resumes wincing in pain.

Youngmin is suddenly glad they have Luhan in their hands, because he doesn’t think he’ll be able to accomplish much with only these idiots at his disposal. He sighs and leaves the room, making a silent vow to end Woojung’s life when they next cross paths.

Mercy comes with an expensive price.

 


	41. {40} lost in the interim

When Kyungsoo finally cracks his sleep-crusted eyes open, he finds that he is well rested and somehow sleeping on Minseok’s tummy. He wonders who arranged their sleeping arrangements in such a manner, because the last thing he remembered was Yixing tending to his superficial wounds before everything went black. He can’t deny that it’s extremely comfy though.

He props himself up gingerly from the floor, looking around through his bleary eyes to see whether anyone else is awake.

The dorm is deathly silent, save for the soft breathing sounds of the other guardians sleeping in the living room with him. His heart clenches when he finds Jongin’s sleeping form hunched over the dining table all by himself; the guardian of teleportation was surely feeling extremely alone. It’s probably the first time he’s spending the night without Luhan ever since they have been reunited, and he can’t bear to imagine how Jongin’s feeling right now, with Luhan in the enemy’s hands and without any sure sign that he’s unharmed. Kyungsoo tries not to think about the grimmer possibility.

“Hyung, are you awake?” He starts at the sound of the soft voice that comes from somewhere near his head and he squints against the light of the corridor to find Sehun’s tall silhouette there.

“Just only,” Kyungsoo mumbles and yawns before he gets up and off Minseok’s stomach (a little reluctantly, he notices), rubbing at his eyes with a fist as he tries to shake the sleepiness from his mind. He averts his eyes from the obvious red mark on Sehun’s neck, pretending not to have seen it. That answers whether Zitao is awake alright. “Where are the rest?”

“Everyone else doesn’t seem to have woken up yet,” Sehun answers as he nods towards the snoozing Junmyeon on the sofa with Jongdae draped all over him and then Jongin at the dining table. “I uh- didn’t check on Yifan hyung’s room because I didn’t want to accidentally interrupt on anything or... _you know_.” Sehun mumbles under his breath and it’s endearing that their _maknae_ is so unwilling to put things into words although he’s probably done all that and more with Zitao.

Kyungsoo lets a sincere laugh bubble from his throat. “Yifan hyung and Yixing hyung are more private than you give them credit for, unlike Junmyeon hyung and Jongdae here.” _Or you and Zitao_ , he adds as an afterthought. “What about Baekhyun and Chanyeol?”

Sehun rolls his eyes at that. “I don’t think I need to open the door to their room because I could hear Chanyeol hyung snoring away when I passed by just now, so my guess is that they’re still sleeping. I think turning into a phoenix pulled a lot of energy from him.”

“I’m not surprised that it did.” Kyungsoo sighs, leaning against the sofa behind him and closing his eyes. “I’m more surprised that Chanyeol managed to call out his Phoenix form at all. He wasn’t able to do it even when Yifan hyung was pushing him to his limits during training. I’m sure it’s exhausting to control something that requires such a large amount of energy in such a short time.”

“It did save our asses a lot though,” Sehun agrees, especially because both Yifan and Chanyeol’s dragon and phoenix forms respectively had garnered a lot of the enemy’s attention during the individual fights they had all been involved in before it had turned into one huge brawl fest after. “Hey hyung, do you think we should wake the others up? It has actually been two days since we were knocked out. Yixing hyung overdid it with his spells.”

“Two _days_?” Kyungsoo parrots in disbelief. It was no _wonder_ he felt so rested. His stomach rumbles with hunger and the reality of it hits home. Sehun nods along.

“It looks like I’d better whip up something then. Pretty sure kimchi spaghetti in copious amounts will wake everyone up.”

“I just hope it doesn’t end up as everyone’s last meal.”

Kyungsoo shakes a ladle at Sehun’s dubious comment. “Sooman-sonsaengnim didn’t urge us to get the hell out of there just so we would die in the next faceoff that we have with them, so keep your chin up, Oh Sehun!”

Sehun grins like a little child at Kyungsoo’s words. “Yes, hyung. I’ll go work on kicking everyone out of their beds, starting with um… ah, Zitao hyung. I’ll be back before you even know it!” Kyungsoo’s withering gaze follows the youngest boy’s trail back into the corridor and the room that he shares with Zitao, sure that ‘kicking people out of their beds’ entails Sehun crawling into bed with the guardian of time first.

He just hopes he doesn’t hear the aftermath of it all the way from the kitchen. Kyungsoo shudders at the thought as he gets down to work.

As a parting shot, Kyungsoo calls after him, “Just for that comment, we’re not having kimchi spaghetti tonight!”, and this is accompanied by Sehun’s whine.

“Aw, _hyung!_ ”

 

***

 

“So Lee Sooman-sonsaengnim really didn’t survive the fight with the other four psychos,” Kyungsoo mumbles numbly as he allows the information to sink in. His fingers grip Lee Sooman’s diary tightly, mind reeling with what he’d just finished reading, and the fact that his one-time powerful mentor, his older doppelganger, was really, truly gone. “It feels so surreal.” He mutters, as Minseok pats his shoulders in a gesture of comfort.

“He stayed through to his responsibilities as a guardian to the very end,” Jongin breathes. He leans against the side of the sofa and shuts his eyes, willing the tears to go away. Sooman was sure to have protested against them crying for him. “He protected the Tree. He protected _us_.”

Yifan nods gravely. “He was a true guardian, worthy of the title that he was given.” The tallest boy looks around at the rest of them all gathered together, everyone except for the kidnapped Luhan. “I’d like to think that we can be worthy of it too.”

“We will be, I hope,” Junmyeon says, clasping Jongdae’s hand in his. It’s obvious they’d resolved every misunderstanding that had happened between them. “But now we have to find a way to get Luhan hyung back. The longer we leave him in enemy hands, the larger the threat hanging over his head. Jongmin is too unstable for us to make a safe bet after reading what was in Sooman-sonsaengnim’s diary, in any case.”

“Why did you think I wanted to get Luhan there as soon as I could?” Jongin deadpans at him. Junmyeon duly ignores the remark.

Zitao, who has been uncharacteristically silent all this while as he leans against Sehun’s side, speaks up then. “What do you propose we do? We can’t possibly walk right into their trap, especially when we can’t even fight against them without working ourselves into exhaustion. It was a stroke of luck that I even managed to wound Jisuk at all, and there’s still another four of them to deal with. Although Sooman-sonsaengnim left us that diary of his, we’ll still be hard-pressed to win against them.”

Yixing holds up one of the rings Sooman had left them against the light, one with a motif that matched the tattoo on his jawline. “But he mentioned these rings would further boost our powers. How true do you think that is? I mean, it isn’t even supposed to be _ours_ to begin with.”

“We should try them out,” Jongdae points out, seated on the sofa beside Junmyeon. “At least then we would have a measure of how much more our powers would be boosted, if at all. Better to try them out now amongst ourselves than to wait until we have to confront them again and have no idea if we might accidentally fry each other, if our powers turn out to be too much to handle.”

“In any case,” Minseok stresses, “we can’t possibly be sitting here idly and waiting for them to launch an attack. We need to get an upper hand somehow.”

“ _If_ we can,” Sehun interjects, and the worry floods their dorms all over again. None of them have forgotten how they had struggled to even push the other guardians back, even though they grossly outnumbered the older guardians. It wasn’t a good sign at all.

“There is always a way, if only you know how to ask nicely.” They jolted up in surprise when a new voice then joins them, and paled when they find none other than Woojung perched casually on their windowsill, regarding them with sharp, careful eyes.

“What are you doing here?” Jongin bristles. “How did you even get up here- wait, did you actually use your powers to _fly_ up here?”

Woojung shrugs nonchalantly. “I _was_ the guardian of flight after all.” As if to make his point, he lets his wings’ presence to be known.

“Are you here to take my life because I took Jisuk’s?” Zitao asks quietly, breaking through the glaring contest (Jongin and Jongdae) between the guardians and Woojung, who is staring calmly back at all of them.

“Do you think you would still be talking to me if I did?” Woojung smiles, not without the slightest hint of resentment, but he doesn’t make a move. “Yes, I should kill you for Jisuk’s sake, but I know he’s not going to appreciate this. Contrary to your beliefs, Jisuk isn’t exactly fond of all these killings.”

“Well he certainly didn’t look the part,” Jongin scoffs, which earns a snarl from Woojung. The guardians are on high alert at once, fully prepared to fight against the ex-guardian of flight.

Yifan, however, calmly steps in between his counterpart and Jongin, breaking off their glaring contest. “Enough of this,” he announces, and turns towards Woojung. “It’d be best for you to declare your intentions on coming here. Otherwise we won’t hold back from our attacks. You’re not exactly welcomed here.”

“You can try, of course, but if you demolish this building because of the fight, I don’t think any of you would be able to live with yourselves, would you?” His eyes meet each of their gazes. “Besides, I’m not actually here to fight with you. I thought maybe you could use some help, because even if there’s only Youngmin, Songhyun, Kwangyeol, and Jongmin that are left, they are forces to be reckoned with in and of their own.”

“What’s in it for you? Why are you helping us _now_ when all you did was stand back and watch and _participate_ in it all when you kidnapped Jongdae?” Junmyeon speaks up from his seat on the sofa and his voice and face are calm, but his fingers that grip around Jongdae’s hand shows just how agitated he really is about it all.

“If you’re looking for an apology, I’m afraid you won’t be getting one from me. You see, having to jump through so many dimensions and universes, it changed us, _all_ of us, more than you could ever have imagined, and finding so many of our comrades dead and gone when we thought we had successfully arrived took more of a toll than we thought it did.

Of course, you can see who has been affected the most, but it’s for obvious reasons too. Our morals are flawed, indefinitely, and Sooman was the best out of all of us; why do you think all the trainees, even all our debuted artistes, love him? I’m here now because I’ve had it up to here with Youngmin using the rest of us like disposable napkins, and because I’ve had enough, not because I’ve had a change of heart. Don’t mistake this for that.”  

“We’re not going to hand over the Tree even if you help us through this, you know,” Jongin says; he can’t help but second-guess Woojung’s true intentions.

Woojung only laughs. “I’m not looking for the Tree. I never was. We just happened to stick together because we _had_ to. We only had each other to hang on to in this dimension. I just want to put a stop to Youngmin by force because there’s no way he’s going to listen to anyone else.”

“The only person who was ever really looking for the Tree was Youngmin. Even Songhyun and Kwangyeol are just along for the ride.” He looks up directly at Junmyeon then.

“Because even now, he can’t let go.”

“What do we have to do?” Chanyeol asks, before the rising tension in the room can escalate further. “Surely you have a plan in mind by coming here?”

The ex-guardian raises three fingers. “Three days. I’m going to take over Sooman’s role, and make sure you _will_ master your powers with those rings in three days.” He replies firmly, watching each of the guardians in turn. “And mind you, I’m not going to be the least bit lenient on you, unlike Sooman had been when he trained Kyungsoo. I hope you’re prepared.”

This time, even Yifan takes a large gulp because he _knows_ just how far Woojung can go.

 

***

 

**_3 days later_ **

 

 

Woojung regards the group of guardians who look half-dead at his feet, all sprawled on the ground in various states of tiredness and ire as some of them glare at him (Jongin and Sehun), while others just looked as if they just wanted to go back to their dorm and sleep (Yixing and Kyungsoo). He casually walks to the guardian nearest to him, and peers down with unconcealed amusement.

“Already done? I expected more than this.” He comments idly, nudging his counterpart with the tip of his shoe. “Don’t let me down, Yifan.”

“You’re ruthless,” Yifan spits, “if I may say so myself. Give us a fucking break.”

Woojung tuts in response. “I _did_ warn you I wasn’t going to go easy on you. I’m a man of my words. You should know.”

“I’m starting to wonder if you really decided to kill us by ‘training’ us instead,” Junmyeon huffs tiredly.

“Maybe I did,” The former guardian smiles mysteriously, sending chills down everyone’s backs. “You have a couple of hours more to find out about my true intentions though, now get up before I roast your asses on a spit.”

He doesn’t give them the luxury to lounge around any longer, changing into his dragon form without warning and sending a massive fireball in their direction. The guardians immediately scamper in all directions to find safe place to be at, which seems increasingly impossible by the way Woojung’s fireballs only seem to grow larger.

“Ugh,” Jongdae grumbles as he sends bolts of thunder towards the dragon who is just flying around leisurely, but the dragon dodges each one easily. “ARGH!!” The frustrated Thunder Guardian yells as he throws a larger one, but that gets dodged too, and it’s a waste of energy, really.

Meanwhile, Junmyeon, Minseok and Kyungsoo are working together to put a stop to the massive fireball, using a combination of their powers. They yell triumphantly when they succeed, but their celebration is very much short-lived when Woojung sends two more at them.

“You know, this isn’t going to work unless you can fight me off individually. We’ve been working at this for the past three days, and you’re nowhere close to even _mastering_ your powers. What happened? Weren’t you supposed to be the strongest guardians of your planet?”

Jongin snaps at the former guardian, the frustration clawing its way through his senses. “We _would_ , if only you’d give us more hints on how we should get these stupid rings to _work_.”

The statement causes Woojung to pause in mid-air, the anger suddenly palpable in the air around them. “I’d watch your mouth if I were you, Kai. Do not ever mock the rings if you’re unable to call upon its power on your own.”

“Jongin’s right, though.” Junmyeon interrupts the squabble calmly. “We haven’t had these rings before, and it’s a little too much to expect us to _know_ how to use them when it’s obviously not working.”

Woojung sighs. “Some meditation is due. Look into your souls. Search for the voice that is calling out to you.”

“Maybe you should have mentioned this on the first day itself,” Chanyeol points out, tired to the point of exhaustion because Woojung has been a merciless drill master and the session so far has been a lot worse than when Kyungsoo had been getting all of them to train together. Even with the rings that have been given to them – which they have unfortunately not been able to activate yet – the results have been less than savoury.

“Maybe you should have paid more attention to your inner soul rather than charging around like headless chickens,” Woojung smirks. “Well, I think I’ve given enough time for you to connect with whatever you had to be connected with. So, I guess you should start running.”

All that can be heard is a resounding “YOU’RE A FUCKING ASSHOLE!” courtesy of Jongin before a fireball comes crashing down again.

 


	42. {41} in ashes

“For more experienced guardians, I was expecting you guys to set up better defences at your mansion. I’m disappointed. Really.”

Songhyun’s head shoots up from the newspaper he’s reading at the sound, and frowns when he finds Jongin lying on his stomach on top of the grand piano in the hall he’s in. Jongin’s smirking at him, as though he’s not at all afraid of being there alone.

“You sure have a lot of guts for appearing here on your own,” Songhyun calmly folds the paper and places it on the coffee table, leaning forward to observe Jongin with deep interest. He wonders how Jongin would like it if he plays around with Jongin’s mind, the corner of his mouth pulling up into a smug smile at the thought.

Jongin shrugs, unperturbed. “Whoever said that I was alone?”

Sehun pokes his head into the room then, admiring the plush decor and he dives onto the luxurious sofa in glee and bounces on it. “Hey, old man, you guys keep really comfy couches here! Can we have one delivered to our dorms too?”

Songhyun raises an eyebrow at the pair. “You brats were sent here by your friends to get your precious little Seer back? I was actually hoping to have more fun with the others instead of having pests to fight against. Your powers are _seriously_ annoying, you know.”

“Well, that depends on who you’d like to see. I’m sure you’re spoiled for choice,” Chanyeol speaks up from behind Songhyun, seemingly admiring the intricate chandelier hanging above their heads. Songhyun wonders when exactly the Fire Guardian had joined them, and why he hadn’t sensed his presence until now.

Baekhyun enters the room from one of the other doorways, jerking his thumb behind him. “You might want to know that Junmyeon hyung and Jongdae are admiring one of the bedrooms and looking like they want to test it out. I think Jongdae said something about how poster beds are his favourite and I might have overheard Junmyeon hyung muttering under his breath about getting some rope,” he shudders at his own words and pretends not to notice the anger that floods Songhyun’s face. “You don’t happen to own that room, do you? And by the way, this really _is_ a nice place you guys have here."

“You don’t mind if we had our share of fun here, right?” Jongin smiles saccharinely. “Because I believe that you have someone we need, and we’re going to initiate a game of hide and seek in a couple of minutes.”

“You mean him?” Jongmin appears close to Jongin suddenly, with an unconscious Luhan in his arms, arms wrapped possessively around Luhan’s middle as he watches Jongin with amusement and a look of contempt. “Sorry, but Luhan’s mine now.”

“ _Like hell,”_ Jongin seethes, his playful mood gone without a trace at the sight. There’s nothing else that can piss him off more than the thought of someone touching his Luhan so intimately, especially when that someone is Jongmin. “Give him back right the fuck _now_.”

“Even after I’ve had some _fun_ with him?” Jongmin taunts, finger dancing suggestively across Luhan’s inner thigh, and Jongin snarls at him.

“I fucking _swear_ to God, I’m going to chop your hand off and turn it into minced meat if you dare touch another inch of Luhan.”

Jongmin merely smiles. “Ooh, I’m really horrified. Do you also know how easy it is to turn Luhan into _my_ little puppet? Poor boy can’t differentiate between the both of us when he’s in a barely conscious state.” He continues tracing the pads of his fingers up Luhan’s body and across his jawline, eyes lighting up at the way Jongin tenses with every touch.

“So easy in fact, that I could do it right now,” Jongmin croons as his fingers glide along Luhan’s forearm and he whispers intimately, deliberately into the Seer’s ear. “Wake up, little puppet, we have guests visiting.”

Jongin’s knuckles turn white at the proximity between them, at the smirk on Jongmin’s face as his lips brush against Luhan’s ear and how Luhan’s eyes open slowly, lashes fluttering against his cheek. His heart drops into his stomach when there is a blank, unseeing look in Luhan’s eyes. He’s about to call out for Luhan to wake the fuck up, when Jongin suddenly finds himself getting flung across the room by an invisible force, his back connecting painfully with wall. His three friends in the room with him stiffen at the sight, but none of them dared to move until they could ascertain what the hell is going on.

The relaxed stances of Jongmin and Songhyun tells Jongin it isn’t their handiwork, and he pales further when Luhan raises his hand, the way he always does when he’s about to utilise his powers. _Luhan_ threw him against the wall.

Jongmin cackles satisfactorily at the sight. “How does it feel to be fighting against your own _lover_ , hmm?”

“Maybe I should also warn you that we’ve managed to unlock his full potential, so he’s as strong as he had been on EXO Planet, probably several times more, even.” Songhyun cuts in. It’s no wonder he was so relaxed when Jongin had first appeared in the mention. They had this up their sleeves all this while.

Songhyun snaps his finger then, though nothing happened immediately. But as if on tandem, all the guardians in the room crouched down on the floor with their heads in their hands seconds later, writhing in agony at the splitting headache that’s plaguing them.

It hurts like hell and Jongin is aching both physically and mentally as he tries to breach the mental wall that is up in Luhan’s head, but he gets swatted away with all the finesse of a fly swatter hitting a fly and smashing it to smithereens. _Hyung, snap out of it, damn it!_ He calls desperately between the private mind channel that he and Luhan had established a long time ago, but there is no answer and the power Luhan is exerting upon them doesn’t cease.

Songhyun laughs mockingly when he realises what Jongin’s attempting to do. “There’s no use, Kai. Any connection you might have had with Luhan have been severed. You can keep trying, but I’m afraid you’re going to die before you even succeed.”

“Speak for yourself, asswipe,” Baekhyun barks over the pain, sending a blade of light in Songhyun’s direction. Jongmin teleports Songhyun out of the way before he takes the hit, and they watch appreciatively when Baekhyun’s attack creates a large, gaping hole in the wall, sending debris flying.

“Such large words when you’re the ones suffering under it all,” Songhyun smirks as he reappears behind Baekhyun and sends the Guardian of Light stumbling with a boot to the small of his back. Chanyeol catches Baekhyun just in time, and they both reel around to send hateful glares at Songhyun, the headache still too intense for them to really move.

“What’s the matter? Can’t fight under these circumstances, can you?” Jongmin sing-songs. “There’s one way to get rid of it, though. You have to kill off your little friend here, but I can’t guarantee that pretty little helpless Kai will be too keen on the idea.”

Jongin hisses at that but continues trying to reach Luhan through their mind channel anyway, intent on getting through to him because he knows that deep inside Luhan’s mind, he’s biding his time and fighting through Jongmin’s control, waiting for the right time to break free of it, because Luhan is a lot stronger than Jongmin gives him credit for. All Jongin needs to do is reconnect with Luhan’s mind, difficult as it may be, and they’ll be able to break Jongmin’s influence on him.

Just then, Jongin remembered something the priests on EXO Planet had told him once, a long time ago, that their connection is stronger when they’re alone in a private space that no one knows about, and he lunges forward to grab Luhan and disappears from sight.

“That little _shit!_ ” Jongmin seethes and disappears after both of them, obviously more concerned with having possession of Luhan than anything else. With Luhan no longer in the room, the pain on their minds cease and the rest of the guardians in the room pull themselves to stand, Songhyun watching them warily. He hadn’t counted on Jongin being able to withstand the pain and grab Luhan and disappear, taking Jongmin along with them.

“Looks like the tables have turned now,” Chanyeol grins, “You know what they say about that quote, ‘be careful what you wish for?’” A lick of flame appears on one of his fingertips while a gush of wind builds around Songhyun’s feet, courtesy of Sehun’s powers.

“You’re going down, old man.” Sehun smirks, and he unleashes a tornado right upon Songhyun.

 

***

 

“Funny you should be hiding in your room when your friends are getting their asses whooped downstairs, Kim Youngmin.” The man in question looks up from his paperwork, one brow raised at the sight of Jongdae and Junmyeon standing there.

“Let me guess; you managed to get here because Woojung defected,” He snarls, not entirely surprised to see the both of them in the mansion.

“Actually Jongin got us in, but close enough. We did get some help from Woojung-sshi, but that shouldn’t be any of your concern, should it?” Jongdae quips, crossing his arms as he smirks at his counterpart.

“Looks like I just have to deal with you imbeciles by myself once and for all, considering how useless the others are,” Youngmin mutters threateningly, pushing back his chair and rising to his full height. He straightens his tie with his eyes closed, a picture of faux calmness, and when he reopens them, there’s a strong killing intent burning in them. Junmyeon and Jongdae doesn’t even flinch.

“You know what they say; you need to trust in those whom you’re working with, or it’ll be a recipe for failure.” Junmyeon reminds him, juggling two balls of water in his hands, fully prepared to launch an attack on Youngmin.

Youngmin just raises an eyebrow at them. “Trust? You know _nothing_ about trust.” He mocks, eyes darkening in Junmyeon’s direction. “ _Trust_ , that you value so much, is the _real_ recipe for disaster.” Youngmin then turns to Jongdae with a sardonic smile. “And _you_ should do well to remember that trusting in him will be a huge mistake.”

“I think it’s _your_ complete lack of trust, the huge blowout that you had with the Suho back in your world that started it all. I don’t know what happened exactly, but don’t compare us with _you_ r failed relationship.” Jongdae spits, the angry energy crackling at the tips of his fingers now.

“I’ve made several mistakes before, of _not_ trusting Junmyeon hyung and it made both of us and everyone else entirely miserable so excuse me if I _don’t_ take your advice.” Jongdae continues.

“Fair enough,” Youngmin scoffs. “Maybe I should put you out of your misery before it even begins!”

And he charges towards them with two balls of electricity on his palms, the furniture around them getting ruined when their inevitable clash takes place.

 

***

 

There’s an air of nervousness filling the hallway and trailing them, as the four guardians make their way deeper into the mansion and into the unknown, trying to locate the enemy they are supposed to face. It’s been a while since they’ve parted ways with the rest of their friends, and the sound of brick walls being torn down around the mansion tells them that the fighting has commenced.

Yixing squeezes Zitao’s arm comfortingly when he finds the younger boy casting worried glances over his shoulder at the direction where they had come from, offering a warm smile at the guardian of time when he turns to look at him. “I know you’re worried about Sehun, but don’t. Baekhyun and Chanyeol will keep him safe. Sehun will keep himself safe.”

Zitao’s grip on his sword tightens, the colour draining from his knuckles. He swallows and keeps his gaze steadily forward, his footsteps never faltering. “They’re up against two lunatics that do not even blink when they kill. How can I not worry?”

“Well, the bright side is that at least he’s not with Junmyeon, Jongdae, and Minseok who are going up against Youngmin. _That_ would really be volatile, and I doubt that Jongdae and Junmyeon would be able to keep their damage to a minimum, since this is so much more personal for them.” Yifan points out, fists clenching and unclenching by his side in an effort to calm his nerves.

“I still think I should’ve gone with them,” Kyungsoo says, a fretful frown on his expressions. “At least I could ground Youngmin’s powers and allow Junmyeon hyung and Jongdae to deal as much damage as they can on Youngmin.”

Yixing shakes his head at that. “Yifan’s right. The situation between them and Youngmin has turned personal ever since Youngmin had kidnapped Jongdae and forced Junmyeon to do their bidding. It’s not our place to interfere. This needs to be settled by the both of them. In a way I guess you could call it closure as well. Besides, Minseok is there. His powers will work synergistically with Junmyeon’s.”

“Closure or not, I think we have something else to deal with for now,” Zitao suddenly holds his arm out and stops everyone else in their tracks, eyes narrowed at the person standing in the middle of the hallway ahead of them. The other guardians look up too, and their muscles stiffen at the sight of Kwangyeol smiling at them.

“Wandering about someone else’s house when you weren’t even invited to enter is considered a pretty rude act, you know.” Kwangyeol clicks his tongue disapprovingly. “Naughty children should be punished. Severely.”

“I believe there’s a place in the world for _pyromaniacs_ like you who burn down people’s dorms just for the heck of it, and we haven’t even paid you back for that yet,” Yifan intones, not in the least bit intimidated by Kwangyeol.

Kwangyeol smirks at that. “Big words, for someone who was struggling to hold his dragon form for more than a few minutes at a time. Let’s see if you’ve improved any over the past few days.” The former fire guardian flicks a fire whip that lashes between them in the corridor and they scatter, surrounding him as they dodge out of range. Talking things out is definitely the last thing on Kwangyeol’s mind at this point of time.

“I certainly hope you guys wouldn’t mind us thrashing this place,” Yifan quips smugly, before calling upon his dragon form. “Because I’m going to make you eat your own words, and I’m not going to hold back from doing so.”

Kwangyeol barely has the time to roll out of the way when Yifan zips at him at top speed, and he’s surprised by the sudden agility Yifan has gained over the short span of a few days. There’s no doubt that Woojung has been training Yifan, but to what extent, Kwangyeol would have to find out in the next couple of minutes. And for once, Kwangyeol finds himself _worried_ that he’s going to lose to this bunch of snotty-nosed brats.

He spots the flash of metal in between Kyungsoo’s fingers and his eyes widen when he recognises the guardian ring that had been given to Sooman back when they had become full-fledged guardians after a few years. A wicked smirk on the Guardian of Earth’s face matches the jagged spikes of rock that rip through the carpeted flooring, and Kwangyeol swears as he has to backtrack down the hallway quickly to avoid being speared by any of them while dodging Yifan’s swipes at his head.

He curses again when he finds both the guardian of healing and the guardian of time leaning leisurely against the wall with arms crossed in front of their chests, and the panic escalates further. He’s being pushed back by only _two_ of them?

“Those are _our_ rings. Where the fuck did you get them?” Kwangyeol hisses when he catches sight of the ring on Yifan’s finger, putting up a bar of fire just in time to block off Yifan’s attack. Nothing made sense; they had lost the rings many years ago, so how did they end up in the other guardians’ hands?

“Who do you think gave them to us?” Zitao murmurs as he watches the fight unfold, marking the miniscule, but noticeable jerky movements that is Kwangyeol’s reactions to the rings that had been gifted to them by Sooman. He deliberately admires his own newly-gained ring, knowing Kwangyeol’s composure would be thrown off even further.

“They’re no longer yours, from the very moment you brought our planet to destruction.” Yixing adds on, the resentment dark in his words. “You have forgotten the very oath that binds us to our duties; even if it’s a parallel universe, you are supposed to _safeguard_ EXO Planet, not destroy it.”

“You obviously gave that up when you decided to _deliberately_ mess with Chanyeol and Yifan hyung’s heads, thereby further pre-empting the end of our planet. The rings are forfeit, and the fact that you couldn’t even find where the Tree is here, and that the rings never turned up in your possession, save for Sooman-ssi shows just how far you’ve fallen,” Kyungsoo says grimly as he urges the rock spikes back into the floor, only to levitate a multitude of debris and small rocks in his hands before he launches them at Kwangyeol.

Kwangyeol hisses when the debris forms a smog screen in front of him, obscuring his vision. It has always been one of Sooman’s powers which he absolutely hated when they were training together, because he has never been good in detecting the presence of his attackers whenever he’s surrounded by dust. Obviously Sooman had tipped them off on his weakness, and Kwangyeol narrowly avoids the spike that is Yifan’s tail with a slight angulation of his body. It grazes past the side of his face, drawing blood.

“Looks like you haven’t worked on that bit at all. Are you sure you can let your defences down at such a time?” Yifan taunts, his voice suddenly close to Kwangyeol. Kwangyeol whips around with a blade of fire, which Yifan manages to dodge with the help of Zitao’s time freeze.

“My my, how the mighty have fallen,” Yifan remarks when Kwangyeol is frozen in a lunge thanks to Zitao’s powers, mask of anger on his face. “What do you have to say for yourself now?”

Instead of caving in to Yifan’s mocking, Kwangyeol merely smiles mysteriously. “It would do you good to remember that arrogance will be the cause of your downfall.” He comments, and before Yifan can even react, Kwangyeol changes into his phoenix form and leaves a nasty gash across Yifan’s abdomen with one of his wings of flame, sending Yifan to the ground in pain.

Kyungsoo intercepts the next attack and drives Kwangyeol away from Yifan just in time, allowing Yixing space to patch Yifan up as fast as he could. Zitao joins in the fight as well, parrying Kwangyeol’s attacks with his sword. Yixing pulls Yifan out of Kwangyeol’s range, fingers already laid upon the wound on the older boy’s abdomen as he starts healing it.

The healing isn’t instantaneous, even with the extra boost of power that the ring he has on his finger grants him, but it definitely speeds up the healing process by a lot, and soon enough the wound has healed up enough to turn into a light scar on Yifan’s abdomen, the gash in his shirt the only indication that he had been injured earlier.  

“Thanks,” Yifan flashes a tight-lipped smile at Yixing, whose gaze is serious as he looks at Yifan, silently warning him to stay safe and alive _or else_. He gives Yixing’s hand a reassuring squeeze, and then he’s back into the fight, backing Kyungsoo up.

Yifan notes the anger in Kyungsoo’s attacks and in his voice when he growls, “I’m never going to forgive you for what you did to Sooman-sshi. Did those years of training together mean _nothing_ to you?”

“Times change, people change, planets change, _universes change_ ,” Kwangyeol throws out as his flames lick at Zitao’s face, the martial artist bent over backwards to dodge it. “You say it as if it’s so simple, but you wouldn’t be able to understand the magnitude of it since you’ve never experienced it. Sooman was a fool to keep holding on to what was left of our so-called _brotherhood_ and look where it got him. Dead and gone, just like the others before him.”

“So obviously, it wasn’t worth it at all.” The former fire guardian says this in such a matter-of-fact tone and then transforms into his phoenix form. The way that he says it has Kyungsoo both furious and pitying at the same time that he would ever think such a thing.

“The priests who trained you would be rolling in their graves if they knew that you’ve made such a mockery of your brotherly bonds,” Kyungsoo spits, thoroughly disgusted, and sends a wave of earth spikes in Kwangyeol’s direction, destroying everything else in its path. One of the spikes rose high enough to pierce through one of Kwangyeol’s wings of amber, eliciting a piercing screech from the phoenix.

Kyungsoo watches with ghastly satisfaction as Kwangyeol tries to free himself of the earth spike, but wipes the thought out of his mind soon enough. He shouldn’t be relishing in another person’s pain, not even if it’s Kwangyeol and his band of psychopathic guardians who are suffering.

After reading Sooman’s diary and seeing the way the former guardians act as they do, he had made a promise to himself that he would never, ever follow in their footsteps, would never become so cold to his fellow guardians and that they would work together to understand and make sure that they stayed close, stayed _human_ to each other.

“Give it up, Kwangyeol.” Yifan returns to his human form and walks towards the phoenix who’s still struggling, a sympathetic look on his face. “We don’t intend to kill you. We just want all of this to stop, so that we can return to a normal life without having the need to draw on our powers again. You said it yourself – the times have changed. Can’t we live as we’re supposed to, as ordinary humans?”

“ _Don’t fuck with me_ ,” Kwangyeol spits, reverting to his own human form. Yifan has to look away from Kwangyeol’s arm that was caught by the earth spike, and the continuous flow of blood coming from his wound. “What makes you think we’re going to give up so easily, after everything we’ve been through?”

Kyungsoo steps up next to Yifan with a serious look that looks oddly out of place on his usually smiley face. “We might not be in a position to strike a bargain with you right now on everyone else’s behalf, but we _will_ help you achieve everything you need – to return you to your own dimension, to bring the rest back if it’s in our powers to do so. Stop it with the killings and we will stick to our end of the promise.”

The pained bark of laughter that rushes from Kwangyeol’s mouth is mocking and Kyungsoo’s fists tighten slightly in anger, nails digging into his own palms. “You’re decades too late, kid. Any desire to return to our dimension died ages ago, and there is nothing tying me here to this planet, not the agency, not even Songhyun. And _you_ think you can bargain with me?”

“No, no.” Kwangyeol shakes his head, bitter smile stretching his lips. “I think I’d rather _die_ and bring you along with me. It’d be a fitting ending, after all.”

He turns back into his phoenix form without warning and the way that he glows red, almost pulsing – _like a bomb_ , Yifan thinks suddenly – has the Guardian of Flight changing into his dragon form and grabbing the other three in his talons while Zitao tries to hold off the inevitable, freezing time for as long as he can while Yifan gets the fuck out of the hallway as fast as he can, alerting the other guardians through their mind channels.

There’s a blast of heat coming from behind them as they duck around the corner, and Yixing closes his eyes in a silent prayer for the phoenix who has, no doubt, turned into ashes after the defiant screech and the large fireball that engulfs the whole hallway, the way they go up in flames in myths when they die.

 


	43. {42} the end is the beginning is the end once again

There are tears in Jongin’s eyes as he tries desperately to wake Luhan up from his trance-like state, but the way his headache is growing worse is substantial proof that he’s far from succeeding. He knows that he's got to keep jumping through the dimensions because Jongmin is hot on his heels, and there is no fucking way he's going to let that mad man get his filthy hands on Luhan ever again if he can help it.

"Luhan hyung, please wake up! Don't lose to him like this!" Jongin pleads with him, both verbally and mentally, in hopes that he might be able to penetrate the fog clouding Luhan’s mind and keeping him from waking up from his zombie-like trance.

The dead look remains in Luhan’s eyes as he pushes Jongin away forcefully, and propels Jongin backwards with his telekinetic powers, nearly causing Jongin to fall into the void between dimensions. It’s a one way trip to hell if he falls right over, Jongin knows, and he teleports himself back right next to Luhan, wrapping his arms protectively around the Seer.

“Luhan hyung, I know you can hear me. I _know_ you’re stronger than this. You can fight them,” he begs again, hearing his own voice crack from the pressure, his composure coming apart by the seams. He hates that he has no idea how strong Songhyun and Jongmin’s hold on Luhan’s mind is, and he loathes the fact that he can’t do anything else to help Luhan out of this but to beg and hope that Luhan can hear him.

For once, Jongin feels absolutely useless. He subconsciously tightens his hold around Luhan, and buries his face in Luhan’s neck, hoping Luhan would register the gesture as one that’s familiar to him.

“Hyung, come back to me. _Please_ come back,” the Shadow Walker pleads both mentally and out loud, even though Luhan remains unresponsive. He gets shoved backwards again by Luhan, but a tiny spark of hope ignites within Jongin when he realises that the force put into the attack is lesser than before. Again he reaches out for Luhan’s mind with his own, desperately looking for a weakness for him to sneak right through the barriers Songhyun and Jongmin had erected around Luhan’s mind.

Jongin’s concentration is broken when he feels someone intrude into the dimension he’s in with Luhan, and he throws a glance over his shoulder only to realise Jongmin’s there, grinning maniacally at him. _Shit_. The mad man caught up much faster than Jongin had expected him to.

His grip on Luhan’s wrist tightens and without thinking he transports them to another dimension, cursing as he tries to outrun Jongmin and he zips through one after another, although his energy is seriously close to zero and he’s sweating profusely. At least Luhan isn’t resisting him or pushing him away, and Jongin is half-worried but also half-relieved that the Seer is being this docile, because it is easier to transport them from one dimension to the next. Jongmin is just one step behind them all the time, and they’ll be in grave trouble if Luhan keeps distracting him.

Jongin skids to a stop with Luhan ramming painfully into his back when they enter the next dimension. Jongmin’s already waiting there for them, as though he had anticipated Jongin’s moves in advance, the maniacal smile on his face making Jongin’s insides turn. He wants to make a run for it, but when he makes the attempt, Jongin finds that Jongmin has had them locked in this dimension, effectively blocking off all their escape routes.

Jongmin’s smirk grows wider when he senses the fear in the air. “We can’t have you running all the time, can we?” He clicks his tongue in disapproval. “I believe you have someone that belongs to me.”

“Let’s not rehash this again,” Jongin says evenly, trying not to show his older doppelganger that he’s out of breath and practically out of energy. “He’s not yours, and he never will be.” Jongmin’s eyes narrow in anger but there’s still a smirk on his face.

“That’s what you think,” the older man says, and he gestures to Luhan who is behind Jongin. “Come over here, Luhan.” Jongmin practically commands and Jongin bristles at that, hand tightening around the Seer’s wrist in a pre-emptive move to stop him from going over to the psychotic former guardian.

There is a long pause, several breaths suspended in time as both Jongin and Jongmin waited for something, _anything_ to happen, but Luhan doesn’t move. Then Jongin’s heart leaps when he feels a weak force nudging at the back of his mind, though he suppresses the ecstasy from showing on his expressions. He knows the force by heart. _Luhan_.

_Don’t make a sound. Pretend I’m not talking to you._ Luhan’s eyes are still closed, his breath slow and shallow, but Jongin knows he has partially gotten his control back. _I’m still trying to break the rest of their hold on me, but I need you to do something._

_What is it?_ Jongin asks, and in the meantime, he smirks triumphantly at Jongmin. “I’m sorry, but I think I’ve misheard your claims that Luhan’s your puppet. He doesn’t seem to be a very obedient one, does he? Or, maybe you just suck at controlling the others.”

“Maybe _nothing_ ,” Jongmin snarls at the taunt. “ _Luhan, come here_ ,” He demands again but the other boy doesn’t budge, standing still behind Jongin, eyes still glazed over as if he’s still under Jongmin’s mind control. “You won’t like what I’ll do to you if you keep disobeying me,” Jongmin threatens lowly. Still, Luhan remains right behind Jongin, showing no signs of moving.

Jongin smirks at Jongmin. “Suck on _this_ ,” he announces, and then he drags all of them out of that dimension into another completely different world.

 

***

 

Songhyun angrily wipes at the blood trickling down the side of his face from the cut Sehun had inflicted on him, the hatred burning in his eyes. Never in his life had he imagined he would be getting his ass whooped by this bunch of kids, but Chanyeol, Baekhyun, and Sehun proved themselves to be quite the formidable opponents. He doesn’t miss the fact that they had improved by miles since their last encounter, and his nails dig into the flesh of his palms at the thought. He can’t lose here.

But when the string connecting his existence to Kwangyeol’s snaps, Songhyun feels as though someone had physically punched him in the gut and kicked him behind the knee, and he suddenly finds that he can’t breathe. His presence is burned out completely and Songhyun feels the loss of him all of a sudden because where Kwangyeol had once occupied his mind with his sarcastic one liners and asshole comments, there is an emptiness that had never been there before and he _knows_ instinctively that Kwangyeol is gone.

Permanently. And there is no bringing him back.

The realisation itself is maddening.

“You should pay more attention to the fight, _old man_.” Baekhyun’s snarky voice cuts into Songhyun’s thoughts at that particular moment, and before Songhyun could even have a grasp of the current turn of events, he finds himself being flung into the wall by a particularly strong force that could only be Baekhyun’s attack. The gash across his abdomen is deep, and when Songhyun coughs into his hand, it comes away scarlet.

“What’s wrong?” Chanyeol calls out from the far end of the room, smirking. “Are you going to give up this easily?”

“Like hell I will,” Songhyun snarls back, but he grimaces at the pain that tears through his nerves. _Fuck_. He feels faint from the blood loss, but he isn’t going to die without putting up a decent fight.

Tentatively, he pushes up off the ground, breathing hard at the pain that sparks through his abdomen, eyes on the guardians that stand against him. Chivalrous bunch, they are, waiting for him to stand up instead of attacking him while he’s down, and Songhyun has to admit that he wouldn’t have done the same. Maybe that’s why they really _are_ different, and not just carbon copies of each other even though they share the same names and the same genetic makeup, the same faces and the same powers.

Songhyun vaguely wonders just where they had gone wrong, to end up as such an inhumane bunch of individuals, but the gaping hole in his chest where Kwangyeol’s existence had previously occupied tells him of the exact reason why. The thirst for revenge is overwhelming.

“Y’know, old man,” Sehun says, squatting down next to Chanyeol and watching Songhyun from the distance, “we really have no intentions in killing you. Can’t you make our lives a little easier to live and just give up already?”

“Not fucking likely,” Songhyun wheezes out as he stands up completely, slightly winded by the way his head seems to be spinning – must be the blood loss – hand gripping the arm of the remaining couch in the half-destroyed room. “It’d be against my _morals_ -” Sehun snorts at this; as if they had any morals left, after all that they’ve done. “-to just roll over and die for you lot.”

“As you wish,” Baekhyun shrugs in defeat, resigned to the fact that they had to get their hands dirty with blood. He summons a ball of highly charged light, and brings it down upon Songhyun whom retaliates with an attack of his own, but it’s clear that Baekhyun has the upper hand in Songhyun’s weakened state.

The ball of light cuts through Songhyun’s counterattack, and Songhyun smiles briefly at the thought that he’d be joining Kwangyeol in a state of permanent peace.

 

***

 

Junmyeon and Jongdae splits up and runs in opposite directions, trying to break up Youngmin’s attention. It’s clear to them five minutes into the battle that it was a bad idea to stick together, especially when Youngmin’s attack covers a massive range. Half of the room has been destroyed by now, and both Junmyeon and Jongdae thinks it’s a great miracle that they’re still relatively unscathed, save for the small cuts they’ve sustained from the rubble.

Minseok darts between them both, building ice walls that help shield the thunder and water guardians, and throwing ice spears in Youngmin’s direction that distract him and throw his aim off when he targets Junmyeon or Jongdae.

Youngmin growls at the distraction, annoyed and pissed off that it is taking entirely too long to kill all three of them off.

“ _You_ will die first,” he tells Minseok ominously, a promise to himself to eliminate the guardian of ice before dealing with the other two because he is an utter pest in Youngmin’s books. It seems that the wrench in his previous relationship with the Suho in his world that was ruined – in his belief, at least – has carried on forward to the other guardians. Minseok moves way too fast for his liking.

“Come at me, then,” the guardian of ice smiles in challenge, forming another ice pike in his hand and launching it at Youngmin at top speed. His eyes narrow when Youngmin blasts it out of the way with a thunderbolt, and jumps out of the way when another comes in his direction.

“It isn’t wise for you to ignore us, Youngmin, and you _know_ that,” Jongdae taunts, sending jolts of electricity through the ground. Youngmin effortlessly jumps onto the wooden furniture – or what’s left of them – out of harm’s way.

“I don’t see why I should be bothered with you when you’re nowhere near my level, Jongdae.”

"The more you underestimate us, the more likely it is that you'll end up regretting that," Junmyeon points out as he counters the attack that Youngmin sends in their direction, quick jet of water sent towards the former Thunder Guardian that connects with the bolt of electricity and causes a small explosion. The force of it takes out a chunk of the table. Youngmin crosses his arms in front of him and blocks a majority of the shrapnel from injuring him seriously, but one does make a nick across the side of his face, drawing blood. He hisses in annoyance.

“The only one who’ll regret anything is _you_ ,” Youngmin snarls, wiping away the blood on his face. Another ball of electricity surges into life over his palms, crackling threateningly. “Coming here so soon after you were defeated and lost your trainer in the process, you sure have a death wish, don’t you?”

"Don't get so cocky that you'd be able to beat us all when we far outnumber you. It's only a matter of time, and the faster we can get Luhan hyung back, the better." There is a matching bolt of lightning in Jongdae's hand as he regards Youngmin seriously.

Youngmin only laughs coldly at Jongdae’s words. “I wouldn’t put it past you brats to be able to get him back. It would be impossible for Kai to penetrate the mind barriers Songhyun and Jongmin have put up in Luhan’s mind, when his powers are so unstable to begin with.” There is a look of annoyance that flashes past Youngmin’s features when an ice pike whirrs dangerously close to the pulse point on his neck, and would have punctured his arteries had he not shifted in his position just in the nick of time.

Minseok meets Youngmin’s piercing, deadly gaze with profound calmness. “Underestimating us is the worst decision you can make right now.” At that point the three guardians hear the resounding message that Yifan sends through their heads: Kwangyeol is dead. "And guess what, you're already one man down. Only Songhyun and Jongmin are left. I'd say we have pretty good odds now."

He steps back to let a rush of water from Junmyeon through, fingertip touched to it as it zooms towards Youngmin and Minseok swiftly twists the frozen stream into deadly shards that are all travelling in Youngmin’s direction, and he is hard pressed to dodge them completely. Youngmin howls in pain when his thigh gets caught by the sharp object and falls to his knees, hand pressed firmly over the wound to slow down the bleeding.

The smug looks on Minseok’s and Junmyeon’s faces are more than enough to make him see red.

“I am going to _kill all you little fuckers._ ”

 

***

 

Jongmin stares in disbelief at the sight in front of him, mouth agape, and sinks to his knees. Never in his life had he expected that he’d be back here, on this planet, seeing it as it was before it had gone down in ruins all those years ago. He turns to them, shaking slightly – in shock or excitement, Jongin can't tell, but nevertheless doesn't drop his guard.

"Surprised? Didn't think I'd be able to do it did you? _Couldn't_ return no matter how much you wanted to, is that right? It’s only happening because the planet itself rejected you.” Jongin asks his psychotic counterpart, but there’s no real bite in his words. He feels sympathetic towards the group, really, for being so broken and so listless after they had been ejected from their own planet and lost several of their members in the process. Jongin can’t even begin imagining how he’d be able to get through the rest of the days, if harm befell any of his friends. He’s already had a taste of the beginnings of insanity, when Luhan was in grave danger while he was in the older guardians’ hands.

Jongmin’s hands ball up into fists, skin scratching against the gravel beneath him, but he doesn’t look at Jongin. “How-?” He chokes from the emotions, still trying to wrap his head around the matter. “This isn’t supposed to happen. Our planet – it was, _is_ gone. Why are we back here?”

"Because this is what you've wanted for so long isn't it? Even now, after so many years, all you ever wanted was to come back here. That, and to see Luhan alive again."

“This is an illusion. It must be. There’s no way you can bring us back to this dimension so effortlessly,” Jongmin maintains, shaking his head profusely. He’s torn between wanting to believe that this is real – that he’s back, that he’s _home_ – and thinking this is all but a cleverly-weaved illusion.

“Do you really want this to be an illusion?” Luhan walks forward and intertwined his fingers with Jongin’s, having finally wrested the control over his mind back. He smiles briefly at Jongin, then turns to regard Jongmin seriously again.

“I-”

“Jongin, is that you?” Another voice joins them just then, and Jongmin’s head snaps up in surprise, his heart thumping wildly in his chest. There’s a distinct softness in the way his name had been called, a softness that could only belong to one person.

He slowly gets up to his feet, staring in amazement at the person who’s walking towards him. “Luhan?” This is _his_ Luhan, not the boy who’s standing next to the younger Jongin, not the one who is from the other dimension, but _his_ Luhan, the one whom he had become a guardian with, trained with, and then had lost when they had crashed into another universe altogether.

"I've been waiting for you," the blond smiles at him and Jongmin can only stare back, unmoving and in disbelief until a soft hand cups his cheek. Jongmin raises his own hand and presses it over Luhan’s, keeping him close. He closes his eyes and savours the warmth that heats his skin, and swallows thickly before he opens them again.

He was expecting _his_ Luhan to have disappeared by now, but Luhan is still there, smiling softly at him. “What’s wrong, Jongin? You look dazed.” Jongmin’s heart constricts because Luhan’s always gentle with him when they’re alone, and he’s missed this sorely. He buries himself in Luhan’s chest, not caring that their younger selves are watching them closely.

"It's you, it really is you," he breathes, and he can feel the way Luhan's breath brushes against his neck, feathery and warm. "I almost can't believe it."

Luhan’s arms around Jongmin tightens. “I’m sorry I was gone for so long, Jongin, but I’m back. I’m back and we can stay together from now on.”

"I thought I had lost you forever," Jongmin clings to him, head buried into Luhan's shoulder. "When I saw you practically waste away in front of my eyes, I just-" He breaks off, unable to finish his sentence.

Luhan cradles Jongmin’s head and presses butterfly kisses on his hair. “You’ve had a horrible nightmare is all, Jongin. I’m here. You don’t have to be afraid anymore,” he says, rubbing Jongmin’s back soothingly, trying to stop the man from trembling. “I’m here.”

“Don’t leave me again,” Jongmin pleads, and he holds his Luhan a little tighter. “Don’t go.”

On the other side of the field, Jongin looks to his right when he feels a distinct pressure on his hand, where his fingers are laced with Luhan’s, and he smiles when he meets Luhan’s gaze.

“We should leave them be. He’s waited for this moment for way too long. I’d hate to disturb them,” Luhan whispers, leaning a little closer to Jongin who nods in response.

"I don't think we have to worry about Jongmin anymore. He won’t ever want to leave this dimension again," Jongin mutters, eyeing the way that his older counterpart doesn't even seem to realise their existence with the way he clings onto the other Luhan. "He's definitely saner here, anyway."

Luhan clasps his hand tight, squeezing it reassuringly. "It's time for us to go home too. The others need us."

Jongin nods once more and they disappear in a cloud of black smoke, never to return again.

Jongmin never returns to their dimension and he is locked there, willingly, more than overjoyed to live out the rest of his life with the illusion of Luhan that they have left behind for him.

 

***

 

“Minseok hyung!” Jongdae cries out in alarm when the guardian of ice is sent flying towards the last remaining wall of the room, before his gaze snaps towards his counterpart, feeling downright furious that Youngmin had just injured one of his brothers. Out of the corner of his eye, Jongdae sees Junmyeon parrying Youngmin’s relentless attacks, but from the looks of it, he’s on the losing side in the fight, even if Youngmin’s already injured.

It seems Youngmin could sense Jongdae’s growing panic, because he lets out a cold laugh. “Give it up. It’ll take years before you’ll even match up to me.”

"If we gave up every time you said that to us, we would have been six feet under by now," Jongdae spits, throwing a few lightning bolts together with Junmyeon's water spheres just as they are about to hit Youngmin, determined not to lose even though the odds may be against them.

“Why must you always make things so difficult?” Youngmin sighs exasperatedly, lazily blocking their combined attacks. He easily sidesteps an ice bolt that whizzes past his ear, and gets rid of the knots in the muscles of his neck. It’s almost as though he isn’t even remotely bothered by the blood that’s pouring out of the wound in his thigh. “If you’d just handed over the Tree like the good pets you should’ve been, we wouldn’t have to go through all this _nonsense_.” Youngmin adds, then sends a ball of highly-charged electricity flying towards Junmyeon.

Except, the crackling ball of energy isn’t aimed at Junmyeon. The three guardians could only stare in absolute horror as it switches its trajectory path at the very last moment, speeding up towards Minseok instead. Minseok couldn’t react even if he wanted to.

Neither Junmyeon nor Jongdae are fast enough, even though they're both already running towards the ice guardian in a futile attempt to at least displace the attack, but there's a sudden burst of smoke and they wonder if they're hallucinating for a split moment when Jongin and Luhan appear and grab onto Minseok before the ball of electricity hits.

Youngmin is practically frothing at the mouth, furious that his attempt at putting Minseok out of the picture for good gets thwarted, when the Shadow Walker and the Seer reappear with their oldest member closer to Junmyeon and Jongdae on the other side of the room. He takes another step back when the rest of the guardians appear at the door, and he laughs.

“Those imbeciles couldn’t even take a few snotty-nosed brats down? How disappointing.” Youngmin mocks, pressing a hand against his wound to staunch the bleeding.

“They’re your _friends_ ,” Yifan bristles, disgusted, as he takes his place next to Luhan and Jongin. “They fought by your side. Shouldn’t you show some respect for them?”

Another cold laugh. “Respect my ass. I have no need for useless fools who can’t even do something right.” Jongdae shivers a little at that, reaches out for Junmyeon's hand, who holds on and squeezes back comfortingly.

They share a look – _don't let me become like that_ – and – _don't worry, I won't_ – before they turn back to face the last, and undebatably the coldest and craziest former guardian.

“Stop this madness, Youngmin.” Luhan’s voice is calm as he speaks up. “You’re the only one left. We don’t intend to kill you.”  

“In this world, you only have two choices, Luhan. You kill, or you’ll be killed. There’s nothing in between.”

"That's only because you refuse to let yourself have another choice," Yifan points out. "There are so many things in between that could be. You could start anew somewhere else. Not everything has to be black and white, when there are so many shades of grey in between."

"Don't try and _preach_ to me when you don't even know what you're talking about," Youngmin sneers.

“Don’t I?” Yifan challenges. “I don’t know what kind of world you’ve been living in, Youngmin, but in ours, no one’s forced to make such drastic choices.”

"It's time to let go of this. You've spent too many years dwelling on just the possibility of bringing your Suho back to life that you've let it twist you into this kind of person," Luhan tries to coax him into standing down because it's one against twelve and he's never been the kind of person to gang up on someone else like this, and he's not about to start now.

Youngmin scoffs at his words. “Don’t talk to me as though you _know_ me, you brat,” he says, and prepares his attack once again. “I’m giving you one last chance. _Hand over_ the Tree, and I will consider letting you live.”

“You know as well as we do that it’s a violation of our fundamental responsibilities as Guardians,” Junmyeon says. “We’re not going to hand it over.”

"Then you'd better all prepare to die here because I am tired of playing games with you _children_." A ball of electricity swells in his hand, growing and growing larger than they've ever seen previously. "Maybe I'll just leave Luhan here alive and pry the knowledge from him because people are just _so much_ more cooperative when everything they love is _dead and gone_."

The other guardians fall into a circle around Youngmin, all preparing their own attacks to face Youngmin’s. “You want to get to Luhan hyung?” Jongin snarls, his hand tightening over Luhan’s smaller one. “Over. my. dead. body.”

Youngmin smiles, sinister and cold, "Why, Kim Jongin, _you'll_ be the first to go of course, since you seem so eager."

The ball of electricity expands and the whole area is shrouded in bright light just as the guardians ready themselves to attack.

There’s a burst of light, and then--

Nothing.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alexa, play EXO's Universe.


	44. epilogue

The backstage is bustling with activity, with people rushing about to get things done. Luhan puffs up his cheeks, wincing when one of the staff yells aloud after stubbing his toe against one of the equipment messily laid about, and sighs, deciding that he needs to find somewhere quiet to rest.

"Hey, are you holding up okay?" Yifan’s voice comes from behind him when he stumbles along the way, cutting through the hustle and bustle as the taller boy holds him by the elbow guides him back towards their dressing room, where some of the others are still getting their makeup done.

“Yeah, just tired, that’s all,” Luhan smiles, blinking up sleepily at Yifan. He lets himself be guided through the crowd, feeling much to boneless to move on his own, and curls up next to Jongin when Yifan drops him gently on the sofa.

Jongin looks at Luhan in concern, reaching up to push his hair out of his face, but Luhan just shakes his head and holds Jongin’s hand against his cheek. “You’re thinking too loudly, Jongin. I’m fine.”

It doesn't stop Jongin from giving him a worried look, "You'd tell me if it's too much, right, hyung?" The aftermath of the final showdown with Kim Youngmin had taken a toll on all of them, but Luhan seems to have taken the brunt of it when he had shielded them all from the blast. He had lost consciousness for _days_ soon after the battle, and has been exhausted ever since. It’s been weeks since the incident had taken place, but Luhan’s energy did not seem to have picked up at all. All he had been doing was to sleep all day, and they had to take frequent breaks during their choreography practice as well.

It’s a good thing that the staff aren’t being too harsh on them, completely understanding that Luhan is feeling under the weather.

“I will,” Luhan nods, not really caring if he’s going to be reprimanded for messing up his meticulously styled hair, and wraps his arms around Jongin’s middle, burying his face in Jongin’s shirt. “Wake me up when the stage manager calls.”

Jongin shares a wary look with Yifan then, and flashes a thin smile at Yixing who comes over and joins them.

“Maybe I can channel some of my energy to him before showtime.” It takes one look for Yixing to understand what Jongin’s worrying about. It’s a running concern among the guardians, one which no one talks about in the open because Luhan would get upset at them and end up even more exhausted than before, and no one really wants that to happen.

Apparently, Luhan isn’t quite asleep yet. “What are you talking about, Yixing? We’ve lost our powers, remember?” He mumbles. “I can do this. I just need a power nap and some coffee to keep me alert.”

_You know very well that naps don’t even work anymore_ , Yifan wants to say, but he sighs and leans against Yixing instead. “Make sure he gets enough rest, Jongin. I’ll keep the rest of the staff away from you until it’s time for us to hit the stage.”

“Got it, hyung,” Jongin waves them off, flashing a thankful smile at Yifan.

Luhan’s silent for a long while, and Jongin almost thinks that he has finally fallen asleep, when Luhan speaks up in a mumble all of a sudden. “Do you think I’ll ever get better from this? Whatever it is?”

"It's only been a couple of weeks," Jongin says encouragingly, "it might take a bit longer than that, considering just how much energy you expended. Don’t worry about it, or you’ll tire yourself out even more." His hand pats at Luhan's shoulder comfortingly.

Luhan laughs; it sounds exhausted, and Jongin’s heart breaks a little at that. “Sometimes I wonder if the Tree is punishing me, in particular, for what we’ve used it for.” He shifts a little in Jongin’s lap, and makes himself a little more comfortable. “We’re supposed to guard it, but do you think we’ve failed it? Failed our mission? It even stripped us of our powers.”

"The Tree wouldn't have revived me if it hadn't decided that your wishes were pure of heart," A much older, familiar voice joins them and Jongin sits up straight while Luhan stirs a little in his position, smiling when Lee Sooman appears at the door to the dressing room. "And it's something I will forever be in your debt for."

It had been a whimsical decision on their part, to revive Lee Sooman after the battle. Luhan had the Tree with him all this while, buried in the deepest recesses of his mind where no one but himself and Jongin could reach, and before he had completely lost his consciousness from the battle with Youngmin, he’d grabbed onto a hand – Jongin’s? Yifan’s? Junmyeon’s? He had no idea – and conveyed his wishes to test out the theory. They hadn’t expected it to succeed, considering how no one knew how the Tree worked. They only knew it was a risk they were all willing to take.

“Sooman-sonsaengnim,” Luhan says and tries to sit up, but Jongin’s grip around him tightens and forces him back down. He pouts at Jongin, but stays down in accordance to Jongin’s wishes. He doesn’t want the younger boy to worry about him more than he already does.

“You know, if the Tree did not trust in your intentions, you wouldn’t have survived the ordeal.” Sooman tells him good-naturedly. “Anyone that you had been connected to would not have survived either, so essentially, all the guardians would have been wiped out completely, considering how all your minds are connected together...”

“Have you ever seen this happening before, though?” Kyungsoo walks over and joins them, having had his makeup done. “I mean, has anyone used the Tree to revive someone who’s supposedly dead before, and lived to tell the tale?”

Sooman shakes his head gravely, “It has never been documented in the annals, ever, and the Tree of Life has only been known as a symbol of a planet’s lifespan in all this time. That it even survived and flourished here on Earth is a miracle of its own, and that you were able to gain the Tree’s permission to revive me is something even more unprecedented.”

The group falls silent for a brief moment, all trying to let the fact sink in. Junmyeon is the one who speaks up first. “So… you have no idea how long Luhan hyung is going to stay in this condition either? Or whether he’s going to get better at all?”

“Unfortunately, no.” Sooman says as he meets their expectant gazes. “But one thing’s for sure: it’s fortunate enough that you’re all here, albeit having lost your powers, and you survived that fight with Youngmin, because he was the strongest of us all. If I had to be honest with you, when I had trained you at first, I was actually worried that even with your combined powers, you wouldn’t be able to defeat him. But you proved me wrong. Woojung trained you well, too.”

“That speaks for itself more than any words I could say,” the older guardian continues. “I think Luhan will be alright in time. You’ve all managed to get this far and overcome so many things on your own that this will pass in time too.”

“Did you… manage to establish contact with Woojung?” Zitao tries cautiously.

“If he wanted to be found, he would’ve been here by now,” Sooman’s gaze looks distant for a few moments, as if he’s looking at something beyond the room, remembering something about his past, before focusing again on Zitao. “He probably won’t ever come back, and that is his choice to live his life. No one can force that guy to do anything he doesn’t want to.”  

“Sounds a lot like me,” Yifan says wistfully, before the rest of the guardians turn to stare at him incredulously.

“HE _IS_ YOU.” They chorus loudly, causing Yifan to jump, and Sooman only laughs at the exchange.

“In any case,” he speaks up when the boys finally quiet down, “I guess you boys can live your lives normally again, without the constant threat of someone coming after you, or having to worry that you would accidentally use your powers in public.”

“Unless you decide to turn evil, you mean?” Chanyeol points out with a mischievous glint in his eyes.

Sooman lets out a short laugh at that. “Been there, done that, and didn’t particularly enjoy it,” he jokes and then gestures with his arms for all of them to gather around.

“You boys have been through a lot and now it’s time to finally focus on the prime reason why you joined this agency in the first place: to debut and become stars in your own right. Are you ready for this?”

Junmyeon smiles as he meets his members’ eyes, just as the stage manager comes knocking on the door. They all return his smile, and Luhan looks a lot more energetic now, as they gather their hands in the middle, one piled on top of the other.

“Let’s do this!” They cheer together and their voices reverberate within the small room, and when Jongdae looks around him, he notices each and every one of his members, his brothers, his _lover_ grinning brightly and fully charged and buzzed, ready to take their first step on stage together, as a team, as EXO, as _one_.

They make their way out of the room and file through the dark corridors, the crescendo and the sound of the crowd building as they near the back of the stage and hear the narration of the story regarding the Tree of Life, and the sound of their teasers playing, pumping up the audience right before they go onstage.

Baekhyun chuckles, knowing that their fans will never know just how true to life the narration really was to their previous lives, and their current ones, and just what the Tree of Life actually meant to them.

The lights are bright and for a second, Yixing thinks he’s gone deaf as they step up on stage, but when he blinks again, he’s overwhelmed by the sheer number of people who are out there, cheering and screaming, for _him_ , for _them._

Before he can even prepare himself, the lights go off, the cheers grow louder, and the loud music blares from the speakers as he sees their EXO-K counterparts start off the show. Long fingers lace with his then, and Yixing looks up, smiles when he sees Yifan grinning at him. It calms him down considerably, before they’re bundling out onto the stage, seamlessly continuing with their part for the song, just as they had rehearsed it multiple times before.

Before they know it, they’re being joined by all the boys in EXO-K again and they finish off their first performance on stage ever to an explosive amount of applause before they run off backstage, the lights dimming above them as Leeteuk takes the stage again.

Minseok manages to catch a glance of the audience behind him and inhales sharply at the sheer amount of white lights that illuminate the darkness. It’s amazing and he almost can’t believe that it’s real, but he comes to himself when Kyungsoo’s squeezes his hand and he turns to meet the other boy’s small smile and nods.

All too soon, they’re being called to go on stage again, and it’s both scary and exhilarating as Zitao leads them all on stage, and the second youngest resists the urge to look back behind him to make sure all his hyungs are right behind him. Sehun laughs and yells at Zitao to move forward because he’s stalling everyone else, and Zitao glares at him half-heartedly. Jongin moves to lead Luhan out onto the stage, but is forced to walk ahead without him when Luhan sends him a pointed look, mouthing to Jongin that he’s fine, though Yixing sends a mental message and lets Jongin know he’ll look out for Luhan on Jongin’s behalf.

When all of them are finally standing in a straight line (after several perfunctory glances around by Junmyeon and Yifan to make sure that all of them are in place), Junmyeon gives the signal for them to put out their right hands in a thumbs up sign and then chorusing together,

“We are one! Hello, we are EXO!”

Their voices fill up the venue and seeing so many people cheering for them makes Yifan’s heart warm.

This is their stage now. This is their new beginning, and this is the road they will walk down together, as one, not as guardians, but as EXO and the road may be long and bumpy and filled with challenges, but they know that they will face each challenge together, and that their brothership will never falter.

 


End file.
